Mom & Dad
by T-Rexxy
Summary: That time two little stripes would completely change Lucy's and Gru's life. And how hard it yet can be to be a parent. "I'm…I'm just so happy, Gru. I love you so much. You, the girls and…and junior..." - GruxLucy - [ HUGE Fluffiness ]
1. Two Stripes

_**[ Jus' so you know: Usually I'm totally against the idea of Gru and Lucy having a baby. But this is a roleplay me and a friend did out of fun and I thought it turned out to be just kind of...**__**perfect!**_  
_**It's highly edited - just so I can still keep it T-rated. But yah, read it or beat it! ]**_

* * *

Gru was a clever guy, and he could imagine what this thing was at all, and why Lucy had been acting like that the last days. But perhaps he just either couldn't or didn't want to believe it. She wouldn't keep a secret from him, right? She would have told him anything that was important, right? Sure, they weren't like...a married couple, but still - they were together for longer than 7 months...He turned around, to her walking into the Bathroom.  
Gru offered a brief warm smile, seeing her again after a long day or work, but he remembered - there was something important to discuss!

"Hey Gru, what'cha got there?"  
Holding the thing in his hand like it was some kind of evidence in a case, he tilted his head and frowned.  
"Uhm...honey, uh-vhat is dis?" he asked. Well, there goes the idea of him distracting her.  
She wanted to be honest with him. But then she would have to admit it to herself, and saying the words would just... make it real. She felt the words getting stuck in her throat, staring at that damn stick.

"Well, silly, that's a pregnancy test!" Well, that was true. "I keep one with me always just in case my p-comp is bugging, since it can do that sometimes!" True as well, even though she forgot to add the vital detail of that this was a used one since her comp had been bugging after some days with a fever, and what the test showed. She didn't want to know how he would feel about it, if it was. But judging after his glance, she surely could see that Gru was frowning. And there bubbled up the entire fear and anxiety Gru had felt before.

Some weird images popped up in his mind and he felt himself holding his breath for a second.  
What kind of soothed his nerves in that situation was that she kept a cool head, as if that wasn't a big deal after all.  
Gru hadn't had any idea how this women-stuff was working, but he was pretty sure that there was something that he actually should know…  
She fumbled with her handbag, trying not keep her eyes looking at him. It was hard, and she started to flicker her eyes around the walls. The whole place suddenly felt too open and exposed.

"Hey, want to go out tonight? I heard there's gonna be a good horror movie at the cinema this week." She put on a strained smile, attempting to change the. Grabbing the fabric of the arm that didn't hold the test, she tried to make him follow her back downstairs.  
"U-uhm..." he stammered, feeling Lucy's hand fumbling for the fabric of his sleeve and tugged him out of the bathroom. Without thinking twice, he placed the stick back in the sink and followed her outside, still a bit dumbfounded by the sudden change of subject. But well – Probably he was just making mountains out of molehills and overreacting a bit.  
"Well-sure." he smiled at her and she smiled back. Yet…it was played. She felt suddenly very, very horrible.

...

Lucy was digging for the last of their popcorn, knowing that once they got out of the place, there were once again gonna be in a situation where they could talk. She couldn't keep on forever. Or maybe she should just keep it silent and get rid of it…? It would be horrible, of course, thinking to be killing something that was hers and his – but what if Gru didn't want another kid? If she only got rid of the box of the test she had in her handbag, Gru would never have to know that the test had shown positive in the first place. She squirmed in her chair.  
"Honey…?" Gru looked back at her, his hand on hers. "Are yu a'right?"  
"Y-yah, yah, don't worry. Just…something's poking in my back." She grinned and looked back at the screen.

But she didn't want to lie to him either. She knew his romantic history, she knew that he had never made a woman pregnant, and this could be both's last chance at getting a child by blood. But she just didn't know if she wanted that. She hated the very idea of being slowed down, of having strangers want to listen to the belly, or heaven forbid, Silas putting her on maternity leave. She puffed air out of her mouth in frustration, what to do? She was at least happy they were in the dark so he couldn't see all her face expressions while thinking.  
During the entire Movie, Gru was more concentrated on his thoughts than the movie. He tried to fix his mind on the plot-line like Lucy, but it was just terribly difficult when something different was distracting him all along.  
Silently chewing on the popcorn, he kept holding her hand in his own and sighed...

The film ended and Lucy stood up to get done to head home.  
"So, what about that huh? When the monster just jumped right at the kids who were having some make-out session! Never get tired of that old trick!" She smiled as broad as she could while standing up and started buttoning her jacket.  
Gru cringed slightly as he recognized she was talking to him.  
"Hm? Oh, uh- yeah." he awkwardly ran his hand over the back of his neck. "Shuld always keep an eye open, even in dhese..._situation!_"

He was honest – he hadn't really paid much attention at all. And just so he wouldn't make her uncomfortable, he agreed.  
"Well, anyway – this was nice…" Lucy smiled at him, warmly, for a minute she pushed her thoughts away. It would be better.  
"It certainly was!" Gru nodded, and they walked back to the doors, to leave the hall where the credits still rolled.

Once outside the cinema, Lucy took a deep breath when they faced the chilly evening air. It all felt better now when she got some distance from the whole thing, and if it just went as she planned, she wouldn't have to worry about it until the morning. She seemed content – but Gru certainly had something on his mind. He bit his lip, a bit frightened but yet excited, and out of reaction, he reached for her hand. "Uhm..." he started. He couldn't run around and dwell on that subject without wasting a word. He was sure she wouldn't like that subject - but he just had to tell her.  
Lucy looked down at his fingers brushing hers.  
Small butterflies filled her stomach when her boyfriend's hand snaked around her own, holding her lovingly, and she accepted, squeezing it. After all this time, he hadn't changed a bit. Insecure, calm and lovingly…

"Uh, Lucy-? May I…may I ask yu somethin'?"  
She looked over at him, he did not at all sound as happy as she felt. Her happy expression dropped, but she tried to keep it up.  
"Sure, big guy. What's on your big, fuzzy mind?" she chuckled.  
"Well…" he started. "Yu know dat – dat yu can tell me anythin', right?"  
"Right…" said Lucy. And suddenly, she knew exactly what he was heading to.  
"Okay…so…back home, vhen I found dat pregnancy test...dhere were uh, two red stripes in dat leetle white box." he stood still for a second and turned to face her. His light blue eyes were looking into hers, and he looked upset.

Suddenly, she really didn't want him to continue. She didn't want to talk about it. No._ Nonononono,_ she shouted in her head. Rewind, rewind. Go back to the cinema, get robbed, some distraction, where was a pickpocket when you needed them?

" And now i was wonderin'-"  
_'No please don't ask…'_ she begged silently  
"Is dhere perhaps somehin' yu need to tell me...?"

She was squirming at the spot, not ready at all to tell him. She felt her throat tightening up and pain in her chest, panic taking over. Trying to breathe, she couldn't look in his face anymore. She broke the eyecontact with her boyfriend, and tried to pull her hand out of his, shielding herself from his gaze and concern.  
"No?" she squeaked out of her mouth, knowing fully well that she acted like a child caught stealing candy from the food store.  
_No?_  
That was some quite bad lie. She never has been a good liar...  
Gru bit his lower lip. One way to express his frustration, the other would be a rude "ugh". But that wasn't appropriate at the moment, he figured. So apparently, there really was something to discuss. He could see her expressions drop, the way her body stiffened. Continuing to chew on his lip, he tried to figure out what else he could try to make her feel at least a bit comfortable in that situation.

So he quirked a brow above his eye and placed his hand on her cheek, drawing his fingers down her jawline, tilting up her chin.  
"Sure...?" he asked again, softly, almost whispering. Lucy stared back at him.  
"I- I." The throat was still tightening and she really thought she was gonna pass out any minute. Those ice blue eyes that contained more warmth and love than she could imagine. He was a natural father, it just came to him without even a thought about it. She wasn't a natural mother. "I don't want to talk about it. Not here." Was all she could manage, before she took some steps away from him Can we…can we get in the car?" Just one more minute. Just one more minute to gather courage and she could tell him everything.  
"Y-y-yes, of course!" he nodded, slightly shocked by how desperate she suddenly seemed. But before he could apologize and comfort her, she had already passed by him and headed straight to his gigantic vehicle in the parking lot.  
Man, he kinda had pushed things at the edge, huh? He didn't want to put her under such pressure, but it just was obvious that she couldn't keep it a secret all along and he couldn't always pretend like it's nothing. Either they speak about it or he wouldn't know whatelse he could do.

At Gru's car, he turned around, making sure she was catching up and offered a worried glance, before he opened the door. Helping her to get inside, he closed the door behind them. Turning around, he placed his hands on his back and waited for her to begin.  
"Lucy…?"  
Lucy felt the tears building up in her eyes. She really had no excuses left.  
She looked up at him, and down at the table. Up at the lamp, and back at him again. After a minute or two of looking at everything at least once, she closed her eyes firmly shut. Just get it out.  
"I'm pregnant." She croaked, fiddling with her fingers before her like mad.  
Gru stared back at his girlfriend.  
Eyes fixed on her, her words sunk in, slowly and almost painfully.  
Outside, the rushes of other cars was heard and filled the silence around them.  
She was pregnant.  
He was thinking that there must be something kind of close to this, but now that she told him, he couldn't believe were having a baby!

Gru opened his mouth to say something, but all he could do was giving a brief, feeble laughter. "I can't believe it..." he whispered, and suddenly all the happiness he had doubted to feel at all before seeped up into his face, until he was beaming at Lucy. Quickly approaching her again, he placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead.  
"We're really goin' to have a baby...?"  
"…Yes…" she nodded, eyes closed to fight back approaching tears.  
He almost didn't notice that she wasn't that happy about that fact as he was until he drew back to look at her.  
And thus his expressions melted into a slightly confused face.  
"Vhat is it...?"

"Gru, I - I wasn't made to be a mommy! I don't want to be grounded for the better half of a year while baking a bun!" She suddenly blurted out, opening her eyes in a desperate glare. "I don't want to become big as a house! I certainly don't want to have something the size of a sack of potatoes pressed out through my happy-hole!" She backed away from him.  
For a moment of two, Gru stared back at her, silently, once more and all he did was blinking in confusion. A harsh sting inside his heart spread in his chest as Lucy pushed him away from her, and mentioned that...  
She wasn't made to be a mommy?  
How could she say that? He had seen her with his kids, how much fun they had around her, how much she adored them and loved playing with them. They saw her as their mother...and now she was telling him she wasn't made to be a mommy?  
He gulped, but although he had so many things to say, he kept his mouth shut.  
"I was made to be an agent and not a mom! I can't stand the idea of not being on a mission!" She felt the tears running down her face. "I am Lucy Wilde, top agent at the AVL, not some incubator!" She shut up for a moment, trying to calm herself.

An…an _incubator?!_  
Gru was shocked! How could she think she was something like an incubator, just because she was having a baby!  
Somehow he had already assumed she'd react like that, telling him that her job had more priority than anything else. He could understand her, after years of working hardly like that...  
But still, the idea that she wasn't happy to be the mother of their child...  
"I don't know how far it's been yet." She continued, in a lower voice, and she had turned her back to him. "I was thinking... maybe I should have an abortion instead?"  
The moment he had formed words of comfort in his mind to speak out, she suddenly suggested something that seemed so horrible in his ears, so endlessly gruesome it was leaving him almost speechless.  
"A-ab-abortion...?" he breathed. She felt herself shrinking a meter for daring to give him that suggestion, especially after seeing him beaming as if she had given him the greatest gift in the world.  
"-L-Lucy...no _please!_" he stepped closer once more, tempted to touch her again, but he knew that she only would push him away again. "Lucy...I'm beggin' yu, dun't...dun't think dat...i...i culdn't live with dat...knowin' dat we killed our child..."  
There was so much desperate in his eyes, the last time he was that desperate - it must have been even before they knew each other...

How could she even suggest that to this man? She knew how much he adored his children, the very idea of getting a biological one must have been a dream he abandoned a long time ago. "I... I don't know what to do. I love your girls, I just have never wanted this thing myself. And now I'm in it. Can you imagine it? Having something growing inside if you, leeching on you for almost a year? An invader in your body? And all of a sudden, my body isn't mine anymore. It's for this little… thing!" Not being able to say much more, she dropped her head down in her hands and sobbed, her entire body shaking.  
"Gru…I wasn't made for this!" she finally turned around. "I'm a skinny, gangly clumsy mess and I'm happy risking my life every day for the safety of the world! I'm useless if I can't do that! I'm worthless if I can't do that. Whatever good would this bring?"  
So that's it? He saw their child as a...thing? An invader? Something she never even wanted? Something that was hers and his, and yet she denied that she would love it just so she could continue having her job done? Gru gulped down his pain once more, holding back a flood of curses. He couldn't even look at her at the moment. Staring at the iron-walls of the gigantic vehicle, he bit his lower lip so hard he could taste the metallic flavor of his own blood.  
Running his hand over hid face, he brushed off the blood from his lip, took a deep breath, before he finally responded:

"Vhatever good wuld dis bring...?" he repeated. "Vhatever good dis wuld bring?!" Now he was angry. Angry, not only because she was literally just thinking about herself in that moment - but because she hated something they both have created. Their child. She saw it as something that would only harm her body, without giving back anything. Like a parasite or such...  
This was just too much for Gru.

"Okay... A'right...!" he folded his hands in front of his chest. Lucy's eyes shifted.  
"Gru…Gru, I'm so—"  
"Yu know vhat? Fine. If yu think dat dis will be literally dhe end of yur life and if yu see our child as nothin' but an invader...dhen go and abort it! Go ahead. Dun't expect me to keep yu away...!"  
He had to breathe fresh air. His head was filled with heat and he needed to vent, instantly, before he'd burst out in a rage.  
He opened the door and jumped outside, walking of some meters over the parking lot, filling his lungs with the cool evening-air...  
Instead of being happy that she had the chance to become a mother, a real mother, she was implying she wasn't made for it? And his child was not even worth living? His hand flew to his mouth, covering it as he felt tears building inside his eyes.  
Gru clenched his eyes shut. Could he really live with that? Knowing that they would have killed their son or daughter? That they had the chance to have a kid on their own and then threw it away, considering it as...trash?

Lucy was left alone in the car, tears streaming down her face, her sight spun, her stomach clenched…  
She had gone too far. She had broken him with her terrible words about their baby and that she wasn't made for this. A lump formed inside her throat. She felt like she was going to vomit any second, but the shock and sadness was too big to care about it right now.  
"Gru…" she started sobbing. Her hands found her belly.  
"I'm so sorry, Gru…I'm…please…" she rubbed her hand over her eyes and continued, like he would actually hear her:  
"I'm so sorry I can't be happy about this…I'm sorry I don't feel like a mother…but…but please...please don't do this to me...!"

She stepped out of the car, seeing Gru wandering on the other side of the street. Before he would notice her leaving the car, she sneaked around the corner and started the two mile walk home to her old apartment, thanking heaven that she hadn't officially moved in completely at his house, still having most of her furniture and stuff there. She would think things through. Wiping tears of her face, and trying to control her breathing, she realized that Gru was simply not going to support her as long as it stood between him and having a child of his own, and it made her feel even more lonely than she had ever felt. All she ever wanted was to make him happy – to make him smile and, yes, perhaps someday, give him an offspring. But now, it was just too soon for her – and that scared her. It scared her to no end and she wished so much that she could be happy to be carrying his child – but she wasn't. Not after Gru was making absolutely clear that she shouldn't come to him anymore for any kind of reassurance, help or comfort. And it broke her heart so much, she couldn't keep her sobbing inside her anymore.

...

"Lucy?"

Gru carefully knocked against the door to the car. After several minutes, he finally realized that he couldn't just leave her there, somehow she needed to get home, after all. But she didn't open. Rolling his eyes, he finally tugged out his keys and opened the door himself.  
"Lucy…?"  
Lucy was gone.  
The car was empty. Looking upwards to the backseat, he couldn't see her either.  
A sudden rush of adrenaline zinged through his body as he realized…  
She left. But where was she? Where did she run off to? What if something happened to her out there in the darkness? His heart slammed against his chest and he closed the door, instantly, turning around to run across the parking lot. "Lucy! Lucy, vhere are yu?!" Gru couldn't see anything in the dimmed surroundings.

Nobody was around. He was alone.  
His breath steamed in the cold air as his eyes roamed across the several abandoned cars. Nothing.  
Quickly, he drew his cellphone.  
"Come on, come on—answer…!" he breathed, holding the phone against his ear. The phone ringed some minutes...But no answer. He tried it once more. Again and again. Lucy wouldn't answer him. His hand was shaking as he cut the call. He stared down on the display of the phone…

**_ "The number is not available at the moment."_**

Gru returned to the car. He didn't make the effort to sit down in the front seat, he let himself fall onto the bench around the table, staring into the emptiness. Did he really just let her go? Did he really have to yell at her like that? Just because he was so happy to become a father – when she wasn't? _'I shouldn't have pressured her like that…,'_ he thought, running his hand over his face in frustration. _'I should have comforted her…!'_

He now realized – she needed his help. She wasn't trying to scare him off, to make him angry or to upset him in any way – she didn't want to tell him in the face that their unborn offspring deserved to die. She just needed his support. She needed him by her side. Just him. That was all. And he pushed her away. But all he cared for was the welfare of his child.  
"Lucy…" he burrowed his face in his hands.  
"I'm so sorry…"

...

"Gru…?" Margo heard the door open. "Gru, Lucy, are you home?"  
No answer. She turned her head from the cellphone she held in her hand while sitting in his Rhino-chair at the fireplace. A big shadow walked quite slowly in the hallway, apparently her father. But…where was she? Gru shuffled into the living room, hands on his back, his eyes fixed on the ground. Margo was surprised. He never had seen him like that before. Pale and riven by sorrow – also he didn't freak out that she was still awake at that time and that unsettled her slightly.

"Gru, are you okay? Where is Lucy?"  
Her father didn't say a word, he just sat down in the other chair, the pink Teddy-armchair for Agnes and sighed and buried his face in his hands once more. Margo felt that something happened, something quite serious and that was the reason he returned home alone. But knowing her father just too good, she wouldn't answer him with pity. He didn't need pity. If he was feeling down, it was mostly his own fault.

"So, you screwed up?" she asked, leaning inside the chair again and tipping on the screen of her phone.  
"I screwed up." Answered Gru from the other side, hands still hiding his face.  
"And what is it that time? Accidentally called her another name? Proposed and she said no? Danced with another girl and left her all alone, drowning her sorrow in guacamole?"  
"Worse I guess…" Gru said, finally showing his face. Margo frowned, looking back at him. Worse than the last point? "Uhm…yu know, uh…back dis afternoon, I have found somethin' dat…seemed to be important. It was a pregnancy test."  
His daughter blinked in surprise. "She tried to hide it I guess, but…uh…however, later dat evenin', she revealed me dat…she's…vith child." Margo expressions dropped at the news she was going to have a baby sister or baby brother!

"Yeah, but…" Gru noticed her excited face. "She doesn't want it I guess, and…she told me she wasn't ready for dat. Dat she culdn't be a modher. And dat confused me, I…I jus' culdn't live vith dhe fact dat we'd have to abort it and deny it to live…So I yelled at her, she shuld go and abort it, if she wants, but I wuldn't be dhere for her anymore dhen…"  
"Gru!" Margo suddenly jumped up in her seat. "Do you even realized what you have done?! You told her that you are literally caring more for the kid than herself! That you would put her life at risk, just so you would have a kid on your own!" She was kinda mad at him – quite rightly.  
"You cannot pressure a woman to keep a child, and nor can you pressure her to abort it! The exact opposite will happen anyway – but don't you even know how hard a pregnancy can be for the mother? She literally gives up her entire life for one year, just so she can give it to the child in her womb!"

Gru frowned.  
"What you did was…beyond wrong I guess." She continued to stare at her cellphone.  
"It's not my fault!" he suddenly blurted, glaring at her. "She called it an invader! She literally called our kid a thing dat isn't supposed to exist!"

Margo sighed.

"Gru…imagine you'll wake up at night, regularly, to throw up, every morning for the next four weeks. Then, after you threw up, you feel a ravenous appetite for…well, different things you hated before. Like Watermelons and chicken wings at the same time. You cannot stand the smell of soap or coffee without thinking you'll barf any minute. You're in pain, your back kills you, you are not able to do anything! You cannot boss around the minions, you cannot invent new weapons, you cannot go on cool, awesome missions – all because you have a baby growing inside you that'll hamper all the nice stuff you could do before and that is what Lucy fears the most! She's an active girl, she needs the adrenaline rush – to be honest I couldn't imagine her sitting at home and complaining about her back and her belly ache and her sickness and staying at home all the time, doing nothing but waiting for the kid to exit her body, either."

Gru bit his lower lip.  
Yes, that would be a nightmare for Lucy. "And then there is the childbirth. Gru, women die while giving birth to their children, daily!" Gru lifted his head in shock. They die? How? And why? What if Lucy would die while giving birth to his child?  
"Do you understand now why she doesn't want to have a baby?" - "Yeah…" he said, still crestfallen. "I du." Margo finally looked back at him…it was hurting her heart to see him that upset, so she jumped off to the ground, brushing her hand over his shoulder.  
"Gru, I'm sure it's not because she doesn't want to give you a son or daughter. She's just…scared. She loves you and all she ever wanted was to have a family with you, but maybe…maybe it's just too soon?"  
Gru lowered his head in shame.  
"Hey, I am sure everything's going to be fine. Just apologize to her. Tell her that you'll support any decision she'll make with the kid, because, remember – it is not only your kid!"  
Her father nodded.  
"And tell her that you love her and that you're not going to leave her side. That she's the most important thing in your life –and not only your baby."

Throughout the Night, Gru lied in his bed, staring at the ceiling and picturing Lucy with all these terrible things Margo described to him. The morning sickness, the sudden hunger, back and stomach pain, her bad mood for not being able to do anything… He sighed, once, twice and then he closed his eyes. He always expected a pregnancy to be something great. Something both parents would enjoy, and not suffer from it. Now that he knew that Lucy wasn't ready to become a mother – was he really ready to become a father? Sure, he had his three girls and was very happy to have them, but… They weren't newborns. They weren't his children he held in his arms when they were just some minutes old.  
He was scared that he'd be the worst Dad for a baby in the world – but for now, he somehow hoped Lucy wouldn't go to the abortion clinic, right in the morning, to do what the entire dispute had aroused…


	2. Father Instincts

The next morning, she woke before the alarm from the stomach-twitching feeling of the last night's popcorn going back the wrong way. Rushing out to the bathroom, she emptied her stomach before checking the time. Half an hour early, she could just as well get up. Reaching for her handbag she had left on the bathroom floor last night, she grabbed the unused test and went to use it. Two red stripes. She was with child.

"Goddamnit…" she sighed, almost in a whine.  
Making a cup of coffee for herself afterwards, she picked her favorite clothes she had left here, put them on, and applied makeup to her face. Not feeling any appetite, she drank her coffee, brushed her teeth and headed out. The AVL was alright with people stamping in and out earlier, and she could just as well use the hour she was gonna save on waking early and skipping breakfast, on getting a head start this afternoon to collect her belongings from Gru. She hadn't officially moved in with the Gru household yet, they had only been dating for a bit over half a year, but she did notice how her wardrobe wasn't as full and her favourite perfume was missing. Again, she sighed in melancholy. She wanted to stay with him. In his house. With the girls who loved her and she loved and she wanted to be with him, hold his hand, snuggle on the couch.  
But he dumped her, didn't he?  
Yes, she was sure he did. Maybe he didn't want to go on missions with her as well…?

"Oh, Morning Miss Wilde!"  
"Morning Silas." The director stopped midtrack from his way towards the copy machine.  
"Lucy, something's wrong?" He didn't normally call her by first name, but she didn't normally come early either, she was a night person after all.  
"Oh yeah... no. Gru broke up with me last night." She almost felt annoyed at how he was fighting the muscles in his face from smiling.  
"I'm so sorry for that. Was it ugly?" - "You... can kind of say it was. I won't go into details now, maybe we can talk about it some other time? I just want to get to work and then head home. Do you know when the medical office is opening? I need to discuss something with them." Abortion or not, she needed to talk to them about her being pregnant. The AVL had a strict policy for their agents and planning maternity leaves and lowrisks missions was a high priority to take care of anyone who wanted to stay but still raise a family. Silas was looking suspicious at her, completely dropping the smile that was breaking trough.  
"They open at ten, as per usual. See you later, I'm expecting the report by lunch. And, do stay professional with Mr Gru. I don't know what happened between you but I'm expecting you both to not pull drama into the AVL. If you can't work together anymore, just say it."  
_"It._" She said after a few seconds of heavy-heart-pondering.  
"I'll tell that to the schedule planner, you won't get missions with him anymore."  
She nodded. Good. It would take a long time until she'd get over him completely. And definitely over not being his partner anymore – but at least one was happy to see them apart from now on. She looked back at Silas.

Sighing, Lucy booted her computer up and got started on her report of their latest mission. Maybe that would help her distract herself from her sickness and heartbreak. Lucy was staring at the screen. She was just about to describe how Gru and she had ended up in the headquarter of the hacker that was attempting to steal all money from the entire planet, losing all forms of communication. She decided that the minor detail that they spent quarter of an hour hiding in a cleaning closet, having a quickie. Had that been when she conceived? It did match the time, but on the other hand, all the other times they had been having sex lately could have been the conceiving moment. Shaking her head, she scolded herself for even dwelling on it. It was over. She wasn't going to live with a man who couldn't listen to her when she was hitting rock bottom. Continuing the report, she kept checking on the watch in the corner of the screen, waiting for it to hit ten to eight, a perfect time to go down to the basement of the submarine - to get to the medical office.

...

In the meantime, Gru had made his way downtown to quickly meet Lucy before she'd head to work – and talk to her. And of course apologize to her. Last night, Margo really helped him along with realizing what grave mistake he made. This would take way more than a lame bouquet of flowers and an apology. He walked upstairs to apartment number 47b and rang the bell.  
Nothing. Not even a sound inside.  
He started knocking.  
"Lucy?"  
No answer.

That was weird – usually she wasn't going out that early to work, right?  
After a while, Gru was still waiting in front of her apartment, he figured that Lucy either knew that it was him and wasn't opening the door on purpose - or worse: She was on her way to the Abortion clinic!  
Gru bit his lower lip, hoping that it was the first point he thought of.  
Looking between the door and the watch on his wrist, he started to get impatient - and the thought of her waiting at the clinic to get rid of what they have been fighting over.

With a last bite on his lip, he turned around, jumped on his motorbike and started the engine, dashing over the street. His first stop would be the AVL! Perhaps there was somebody who knew where she went off to, so he could chase after her. Better would be of course, if she still was at work, so he didn't have to make the effort to run after her.

Just some moments later, he jumped off his vehicle, made his way through several elevators into the belly of the submarine and straight through the hallways. He feared he was too late - what if she already aborted it yesterday or early in the morning? Some passing agents stared at him, curiously about what was startling their top agent so much that he'd run around in such a hurry! Staring at the upcoming doors, he started to count.

One, two, three, four...  
Number five was his office, and right next to him...  
Lucy's!  
He felt slightly bad for just bolting into her office like that, but he had to...  
Grabbing the doorknob, he was just about to turn it around, as he saw something big and heavy making his way through the hallways, in the corner of his eye.  
Silas...  
Gru let go of the knob and turned around. "M-mister Ramsbottom..." he stammered. "U-uhm...have yu see Lucy somevhere?"

Silas walked out in the hallway, and saw Gru standing in front of a door. Not his own, but Wilde's, and his hand was firmly holding the knob. Silas' clasped around the cup of tea in his hand harder, feeling the instinct to protect one of his protegees from a 'former' villain. Silas wasn't used to hear Gru, the cocky, sassy piece of priggish filth, nervous and stammering. Had he caught him in the cookie jar?  
"Mr Gru, aren't you driving your daughters to school at this hour? You're never here this early!"  
Oh darn! He had forgotten about this too. Ugh, well, hopefully they'll be okay to forego the luxury to be driven to school by him and take the schoolbus: Margo would take care of it, he was sure! She was a mature girl and he trusted her to make sure that Edith wouldn't be skipping school again!  
"Y-yeah, dhey are uh-dhey'll take dhe bus today." he offered a short, cramped grin, then he shook his head and took a breath to continue:  
"Mr Ramsbottom, it's very important, yu need to tell me vhere Lucy-"  
"Regarding miss Wilde, consider it confidential. You're not her partner here on the AVL anymore, you'll be assigned a new partner by the end of the day." He tried to look as professional one could with a pile of papers under one arm and a cup with kittens attired in monocles in the other hand.

Wait - did he just say she wasn't his partner anymore?!  
She, Lucy Wilde, the agent who recruited him, went with him through endless cases and missions...She just shunted him?  
Was she really that mad at him to deny his partnership with her...  
He gulped, heavily, staring at his Boss with saucer eyes and a paled face.  
This couldn't be... Eyes darting between the stack of paper and his Boss, even back to the door of his partner- his former partner - and back to Silas. Was he serious?  
He didn't want another Partner... He wanted Lucy!  
"I-I can't have anodher partner!" he blurted. "Vhy did she-vhy?!"  
He didn't care how distraught and confused he looked in Silas presence - he just couldn't believe this fight brought them both to go separate ways now...He had to speak her! Now!  
"S-Silas, I need to see her! I need to talk to her! Vhere is she, was she here? Is she still here, or-did she say anythin' 'bout an appointment at a hospital?!"

Silas was not expecting Gru to freak. Sure, he had expected him to be mad, even get up in his face and shout, or demand that he would be brought to Wilde. But getting scared and continuing losing his thread? This was uncanny, something was wrong. Horribly wrong. The mention of a hospital triggered his thoughts to wander. Whatever had Gru done to the woman? Had she- No, she couldn't have gone down there to report domestic violence, could she? Not the time to make rash assumptions Silas!  
"How di- never mind, never mind." Silas shook his head, almost tattling on Lucy's position. "Where Agent Wilde is right now is none of your concern anymore Mr Gru, just go down to the lab and blow something up or whatever, that is not on my table at this moment. I will need to sort through your partner change anyway later on, you can meet Wilde then, on safe and neutral land. Do not try to corner her, she's busy today and I need her job done before lunch." Silas tried to get past Gru before he could say anything else, but they both were wide enough to take up the space of the narrow hallway. Once he passed by, he gave the annoying man a short nod. "Good day."

That was the moment when Gru snapped.

_**"GODDAMNIT!"**_

Gru heard himself yelling through the hallway, directed to Silas. It was weird. It all blurted out, just out of the sudden!  
Silas wasn't going to tell him where is girlfriend was?!He was denying him to see her?!  
Enough! He couldn't pretend to be the nice and democratic ex-villain at the moment, it was about her... it was about their future!  
Silas jumped slightly from the curse from the man, this was just getting weirder and weirder. Gru would never stop low enough to admit Silas as a person with power over him over a small thing.  
"Silas, I'm beggin' yu!"  
Wow, he was begging him? When was it the last time he begged or pleaded, especially Silas?  
"Dis is not about me - dis is not about yu! I have to stop her from havin' an _abortion_, i have to stop her before she'll leave me forever!"  
_Abortion?!_ Lucy Wilde was pregnant? At her age? The woman was in her young forties!  
Gru didn't care who heard him, and how the other agents would react to his sudden, loud outburst. He felt blood rushing in his head, his hands shook and he violently clenched them to two fists.

"Lucy Wilde and her welfare is my _GODDAMN_ concern! Dun't yu understand?!"  
Out of reaction he put his hand on Silas shoulder and pushed him back before him, so he could look into his eyes with full wrath, and desperate.  
Silas was about to shout at Gru to calm down and shut up when the man grabbed his shoulders, pulling him so their noses were touching. A hot wetness told Silas that half of his cup of tea was now all over his foot.  
"I dun't care how busy she is...i dun't care if she's not my partner anymore...Please...jus' tell me vhere she is!"  
Gru's threatening words only angered Silas. Who was he to obviously making his girlfriend, nay, ex-girlfriend upset and then demand him to tell where she was? Once Gru fell silent, Silas pushed the man's hands away from him with the sides of his arms. Eyebrows firmly together, squinting his eyes at him, Silas was talking trough his teeth.

"Will you shut your pie-hole Mr Gru, the rest of the office doesn't need to know! _Oi!_ Back to your business!" He waved away some people that peeked through offices and the kitchen. "I fully well understand now", he hissed, trying to be as silent as possible, staring intense in the mans humbled face. "She told me you dumped her. She told me it was ugly, she told me she didn't want you as her partner anymore so she could keep on being professional. I told you, She isn't your concern anymore, because you made her not being your concern anymore. You have no right demanding her whereabouts, and if she feels a least bit threatened by you I will have you removed from this department."

Gru stepped away from him. Defeated.  
Great…he had made all of this just worse…

...

Lucy was walking slowly back to her office, looking at the pamphlets she had gotten about how the maternity leave would work and the plan for being a parents and working at the AVL. The abortion information had been easy, she had until a few weeks to just walk down there and demand two pills that were to take with 24 hours apart. Her thought were quickly gone when she heard her name and the word "abortion" shouted in a rough, husky, Russian-accented voice. Sneaking around the corner, not exposing herself in the hallway, she saw Gru yelling at Silas. It wasn't the same angry shouts from last night. These were desperate shouts for help. And they were right in front of her office door. Fudge.

"Mr Gru, you stay away from her until I have talked things through with her, I won't expose her to you if it turns out you have hurt her in any way, emotionally or physically. Whatever she is doing about her condition, it's out of your hands, and it's been out of your hands since the moment you broke her heart." He backed away from the man, really tempted to call security and have him escorted. "Now go to your office or down to the lab, I won't have you near that door until I have Wilde's oral approval. If she has already aborted the child, then that's that, don't you dare pester her about it one more second."

Mad, not only because Silas wouldn't let him near his girlfriend, but also because in his opinion Silas definitely knew too much about their private matters, he clenched his teeth together.`What in heaven's name has she told him that he'd assume he would have hurt her?  
Never would he dare to hurt her physically, he'd rather cut off his very own hand.  
Accepting that Ramsbottom made it to his task to be Lucy's bodyguard and watchdog and keeping him, the threat and danger, out of her way, he kept his mouth shut, for his pleading and requesting wouldn't make Silas move and show him where she was. Frustrated, he growled at him, deeply, but told himself to pull himself together. He had to see – he wouldn't have any power now over Lucy and her decision…

And even if she already has abolished their child – he was not in the position anymore to detain her.  
And Silas would make sure he wouldn't have the chance, anyway.

About to start a second rant, no matter how unprofessional he'd be, his gaze suddenly wandered off the shorter man and back into the hallway. Behind a corner, he saw Lucy, peeking from behind a wall and observing the scene between her boss and her ex.  
All his expression softened up, almost dropped, and he was tempted to mouth her name.  
Lucy stared back at him, directly into his eyes. New, fresh tears build in her eyes and were so close about to fall over her face. He was here – why?  
Was he trying to speak to her? Keep her away from abortion? Or…apologize? She didn't know…  
But honestly, she also didn't want to know, nor to talk to him right now.  
With a lump in his throat, they kept staring at each other, until reality pulled Gru back, he stared between Silas and Lucy, and then sighed, deeply.

"I understand…" he answered, calmly, caving in.  
Although he was beset with worries about her, about their child and if she already had done the step he feared…  
He kept his temper under control, placed his hands on his back, casting a last glance at Lucy, before he turned around, heading into his office and shut the door tightly. After a few more minutes of calming herself down, Lucy stepped out of the corner, and walked up in front of Gru's door, not really knowing what to say.

"Miss Wilde!" She jumped from the sudden concerned voice of her director. "Do you care to explain what is going on here? Mr Gru just shouted as if the world was crackling beneath him." Lucy looked over to the door, fully aware that the soundproofing to these small offices weren't completely solid. She hoped he would hear because she was in no mood to repeat everything again.  
"Gru got mad at me when I said I didn't want to stay pregnant and he, kindof... he kinda told me that if I did an abortion he wouldn't care for me anymore, alright?" she gulped when she thought back to that evening. "And then we went separate ways. I stayed in my apartment tonight, and once I leave here, I'll go and get my things. It's not worse than that Silas, I have told you - Gru isn't a dangerous man."  
"He stole the moon miss Wilde."  
"Soon four years ago, and he put it back within hours." She defended him in the same voice she used everytime she was defending him. "He has never had the intention to physically hurt a person, and he wouldn't hurt me in any other way than being rude. You've read his files Silas, he has never murdered anyone, never even beaten anyone up."  
"You know how he got when Vector kidnapped his girls miss Wilde, he could kill to protect them. His profile clearly says he's protective of things he consider his, and the way he reacted about an abortion, telling me he had to stop you, he obviously sees it as his right to decide."

It was getting annoying for her to hear Silas keep hating him and let her do the job of counting all the good things and meanings behind his actions.  
"Anyway…" The director walked back to his own office, the large, beautiful one with the amazing window. "You go ahead and finish your report. I'll make sure he will stay away from you to the rest of the day, or week – you will tell me whenever you want me to fire him."  
She gulped, but nodded. "Of course, Sir…" Lucy walked back over to her office, shut the door, not locking it, and got back to work. She logged onto the instant messaging program they had for the network, and sent her report to the printer in the archive department as soon as she had finished writing it. She felt some fresh tears falling down again, and she wiped them swiftly with the sides of her hands, careful not to ruin the makeup.  
After yesterday's fight, she just wanted to be friends again. Curses, she loved this man, that hadn't stopped. But her brain told her she needed to stand her ground. She wouldn't talk to him until she was sure he had apologized to her correctly – she still had her pride!

On the other side of the wall, Gru was sitting in his own office. He had witnessed every single word she told him.  
With a cup of coffee in his hand and a stack of files and folders on his desk, Gru perched on his chair, his face buried in the free hand - and completely unable to work through even one of these folders. Too many thoughts buzzed in his head. How would he ever be able to speak to her?  
Despite its rather dowdy way he had taught her his opinion, she has defended him anyway ...

_"Gru is not a dangerous man."_

She had defended him…! She always had defended him…  
He knew his traumatic past and the loss of his father were no excuses to act the way he did. He could not help it.  
Everything he loves and cherish, even if it is almost nothing, is more important to him than his own life - and in this case it was the girl, his friends, and Lucy ...And, apparently, now also his unborn child.  
Sighing, he sipped his coffee, but he had absolutely no appetite. His thoughts were buzzing around, uncoordinated, and worry drilled holes in his head.  
He hated changes. He hated everything that was not exactly as it was before, everything that changed rapidly and was running out of his hand.  
The fact that both would now no longer work together, that was one thing - but that he had apparently now lost the love of his life -  
He could not sit there and watch as they would both go apart further and further from each other. He could not live with it, to let her go without apologizing properly beforehand.  
He did not care whether she would accept this or not, or if Silas allowed it or not- he had to try.

...

After a couple of hours Gru crept out of his office and assured that Silas would not watch Lucy's office like a Doberman. He quickly hopped over to Lucy's office, took the doorknob in hand, and - turned it around . To his surprise, the door was unlocked.  
A low scraping sound told Lucy that her door was being opened. She moved her eyes towards the door, seeing a black, long shoe step in. Moving back her eyes towards the computer, she prepared herself to not soften. Insecure he peered into her room.  
"Lucy ... ? "  
Lucy sat in front of her computer and didn't deign to even look at him. That starts to well ...!  
"Lucy , uh ... can ... can I talk to you for a minute ? "  
She did not answer. The muscles of her face tensed up, trying to act as if she hadn't even heard him. He sounded so regretful… She had her face still turned towards the screen again, feigning to write, even though she couldn't focus. She listened carefully on his every word.  
He bit his lower lip , but stupid to stand in the doorway was not much better , so he slipped into her office and closed the door behind him.  
" Lucy , um ... I ... uh ... wanted to apologize for my previous behavior towards Ramsbottom. Dat was not cool of me, I think ... " he started to speak again, fumbling over his words. Not cool, indeed!  
"I think Silas will hate me even more now, ehehe ... " He laughed softly and sheepishly, but she still didn't seem to be interested in his words.

"Listen , um ... I 've been thinking , and ... have come to dhe conclusion dat I am clearly not in the position to tell yu vhat to du vith dhe baby - . I forced yu to keep it and ... dat was stupid of me. I jus' thought dat ... " He swallowed .  
"I know to be a modher of children who are already present, is something else dhan actuall n' a modher. I saw yu, how well yu dealt with Agnes , Edith and Margo, how much you love dhem, and I ... just assumed yu'd be ready for an own, too." He stared at the floor .  
She had to bit the tip of her tongue not to smile in his presence. The girls…Mentioning his girls made her heart melt. She did love them, as much as Gru loved them perhaps. And then the image of them hearing they were going to have a sibling, Agnes happy face when she discovered she was going to become a big sister. Gru knew she was probably ignoring him…but he continued nevertheless.

"Vhat I did was stupid and ignorant of me. It is, after all, yur body and yur decision, vhat will happen to our- I mean…yur child. And if it is yur own unpressured wish to abort it ... then dats how it shuld be. All…All I vant is seein' yu happy. And smilin'. And if yu think dat havin' dis child is not goin' to make yu happy – dhen yu shuld know dat I'll support and help yu. And will not gainsay…I jus' dun't vant dat ... "He had to swallow again .  
" I... jus'... dun't vant dat ... "

Gru felt his hands began to tremble, and he has already chewed on his lip for so long that he again tasted blood.  
He simply could not manage to tell her that he cannot let her go, and he knows that she did not want it herself either. Helpless, he stared back at her, the room filled with tense silence.  
Lucy suddenly gulped heavily. The way his voice was cracking. The way he was starting to tremble and couldn't continue his sentence…  
He was on the edge of breaking down in front of her. She couldn't deal with him crying! No, she needed to stay stone faced, until he left.

Finally, Gru turned around and opened the door.  
"I , uh ... I 'll leave dhe door open at home , dhen yu can still take yur remaining valuables ... if yu need me , I'll be in dhe lab."  
And with that, he left. The door was shut, Lucy was still alone- but his words hung in the air and slowly choked her.  
She wasn't prepared for him to actually resign, admitting she could leave him without him protesting.  
He had learned. He understood. He _ d!_ She rounded up her work, sent the profiling to Silas, gathered her things and locked her office. His words still wouldn't leave her mind. It was more than she had needed to accept his apology.  
Pressure dropped off of her like ice on a hot summer-day. She leaned against the door to her office, went over his given speech again and again.  
_"And if yu think dat havin' dis child is not goin' to make yu happy –"  
Happy…  
Happy…  
_A sudden, small sting twitched through her belly and automatically, she placed both hands over the spot – until she realized what she was touching there. The place where a baby was going to grow. His baby. Her baby…  
She never wanted a child of her own…but with him…  
The pain ceased once she had placed her palms on the spot. Someone inside her was making itself felt. Wanting to give her a sign.  
And suddenly, she felt…happy. Happy that there was somebody giving her a sign and making its presence felt. And then she thought of Gru; and her heart fluttered. She was sure – just for him she would go through all of this. Just for him, she would give him an offspring.

She met Silas by the elevator once she was heading home, he as well heading to the parking lot.  
"Miss Wilde."  
"Yes sir?"  
"How are you?" She laughed and waved her hand.  
"Oh, I'm fine, much better, thanks. I've... I've decided to keep it."  
"I thought you didn't want it?"  
"Yeah well... It might not be so bad if I have the AVL medical ward, and Gru, to support me."  
She smiled and then leaned in to him. "Besides, such a fine specimen as myself should contribute to the gene pool!" She chuckled, but her boss wasn't as amused by her joke. " So, you_ will_ stay with him?" Lucy hunched her shoulders. "Not sure yet…if he does want me back…"  
"It's not depending always on him, Miss Wilde."  
But Lucy shook his head.  
"His girls always wanted a sibling and Gru is such a nice and caring father – and he's one of a kind! He deserves a child, and the girls deserve a sibling…"

She sat herself in the car and started to drive. It wasn't long until she was in the suburb with the tall, dark house.  
Now - what was she going to do? Would she get her stuff and leave? It wasn't that much really, mostly clothes and bathroom stuff.  
Seeing something pink running around the yard, she stepped out of the car with a smile. She was running after Kyle, who had grabbed one of her barbies, but both stood still once they saw the redhead.  
"Lucy!" Edith shouted and ran up to her, hugging her legs. "You weren't here for breakfast today!"  
"Hey Ninja, yeah, I wasn't. Your dad and I had a fight and I didn't want to continue it at home."  
"You're not breaking up, are you?" Urgh, it stabbed her heart realizing how hurt these girls would be of it all.  
"Not yet sweetheart, not now. Is your dad home?"  
"He's down in the lab." Just as promised.  
"Ahh, yes. Always working, huh? Well, could you tell him I want to talk? I'll be up in his bedroom, I need to sort out my clothes."  
"Yes, sure!" She said and went off already, before returning again.  
"Hey, Will you stay for dinner?"- "That, depends on your father. I'd love to though, your dad makes the best food." She smiled and got up, walking into the house with Edith. Nothing had changed inside here. The same mess of his and his daughters stuff, the same scent and warmth…  
She sneaked upstairs into his bedroom, and opened the door, sitting down on the king-sized bed. She wasn't angry anymore, that feeling had disappeared once he apologized. And she could imagine his face once she was telling him about her decision on keeping their little one…it made her smile.

...

"So…it's over now, isn't it?"  
Gru nodded, slowly and tiredly.  
"Did she or you break up?"  
"Hmph…" Gru shrugged.  
"Oh, you know…" Nefario placed the beaker back in the shelf, which was suspiciously unstable and rickety.  
Didn't he even know that if just one of these liquids would spill, the floor would have had it? It wasn't like the charges for a new metallic ground would be for next to nothing! "Love always has its ugly sides, too. I remember, back in my days, when I was your age, Gru, it always has been –"  
Ugh, now he was starting to chatter on to him again, about how much experience he, the glorious scientist, just had.  
Gru really didn't need any love-guru right now – he needed comforting, sympathy, anything! But not the "I still remember"-thing!  
Gru groaned, and shook his head, interrupting his coworker with a slightly annoyed: "Doctor Nefario – it's not about some minor reason vhy we broke up – she is pregnant and doesn't want to keep dhe baby!"  
"Ohhh, yes I do recall back in my sixty- wait, what did you say?!"  
Behind goggled eyes, Nefario stared at Gru with a dumbfounded face.  
Yes, he heard right, even though his senses of hearing were decreasing throughout the years.  
"She's…_pregnant!?_"  
"Yes…"  
"And you are the—"  
"Who cares, it doesn't matter anymore!" he said, and involuntarily, anger and frustration started to brew inside him once more. "She'll abort it anyway, so vhat's dhe drama about?" Gru rolled his eyes and turned around, giving him the cold shoulder.  
It was odd for Nefario to see him like that. He didn't seem that angry, actually – but sad. Of course he was sad, if he would hear his girlfriend or wife would abort their child after a huge fight, he'd be heartbroken.

"Gru, uhm…I know it's none of my business, but-perhaps there is a chance she'll keep the child." - "Pff, yeah, sure she will…" he muttered.  
"And just because this…well…love didn't last, doesn't it mean either you both can't stay friends, or you'll end up alone eventually. There are so many fishes in the sea-"  
"Dun't yu understand?!" Gru wheeled around, grabbing the already wonky shelf and tearing it off the wall, the beakers smashed on the ground and into a million of shards, the green, yellow and purple liquids spreading on the floor. Nefario backed away.  
"I have scared her off vith who I am! Vith vhat I am! I fought for her to stay and she left because of me! Because I pushed her to keep dis…_**THING!**_"

This…_ thing_…

Pausing in horror of what he just said, he stared at the floor, the colorful sludge on the ground that was eating its way through the metallic ground.  
With a shaky voice, vibrating with wrath, he continued:  
"Yu think dhere is any chance dat she'll ever consider me as a friend anymore? Me? Nefario – it's over, a'right?! I thought I wuld be some good guy after all and no, I'm not! I was born to be bad – and was born to be alone!"

"Gru! Gru!"  
Gru stopped instantly, something inside him that was burning his heart puffed out. He turned around, and saw something pink in the distance running towards them. After several moments of confused staring, he noticed that it was one of his daughters, Edith.  
She ran all down the hallways, through some groups of minions, Gru left Nefario alone in the mess of crushed beakers and spilled acid and approached the blonde girl. "Edith, vhat's wrong?"  
Edith came to a stop, and breathed heavily. She ran often and long, but why the hell did she always have to run down the entire hallway to meet him halfway? Wheezing, the little girl gulped.  
"Lucy…she's here…!"  
Gru looked at Edith with saucer eyes. So she did come after all…?  
"Uh, thanks Edith, but I know, she's here to pick up some of her things, and dhen she'll leave again, no need to-"  
"No! Gru, she wants to see you!"  
"_Me_…?"  
The ex-villain frowned. What else did she want now? Tell him again what an idiot he had been? That she really will abort the baby?  
"Y-yes…she's waiting upstairs…in your bedroom!"  
Gru sighed, patted Edith's head and nodded.  
"Fine…I'll go and see her."

Several moments later, Gru stood in the elevator and made his way up to the living room. Again, he felt his teeth grinding against his lower lip, and he wondered, why Lucy was requesting to see him. He thought it was over…? If she was ignoring him some moments ago…he clearly saw that as a sign of…well…rejection. He did all he could do, he apologized and assumed that was it, but…He couldn't say he was all too excited to speak her again. If Gru assumed it was just something he wouldn't like anyway, why even bother?  
With a weird feeling in his guts, he walked upstairs and stopped in front of the bedroom door. Okay…take a deep breath…

_'Stay calm, stay cool – pretend like this entire breakup is not a big deal!'_

He opened the door at one go and looked inside. Lucy was sitting on the bed, alone, staring at him, and Gru stared back at her. And then she smiled…  
His intention to keep his coolness seemed like a little birdy flying away and leaving the man speechlessly and nervously standing in the doorframe, again biting on his lower lip and shaky, sweaty hands.  
"U-u—uhm…" he stammered. "E-edith told me yu…wanted to see me…?"  
Lucy bit her lip to not giggle at how insecure he was. Oh, it reminded her of how preciously awkward and cute he had been on their first few dates…  
"Yeah, I saw her outside when arriving." She moved her hand over the soft duvet, motioning him to come and sit by her. He nodded, carefully sitting down next to her and looking at her like a guilty little puppy. "I wanted to tell you that I did listen, and... I'll accept your apology."  
It was like a whole burden fell off his shoulders instantly as Lucy told him she did actually listen to him and…that she accepted his apology.

He had assumed she'd never wanna hear a single word from him again – she had seen him from his worst side and yet she came back…? She moved her hand up in the air to indicate that she wasn't done talking once he wanted to talk. "You seriously hurt me Gru, you did. You have always made me feel important and human before, but last night, once you found out I'm pregnant, I became second priority, a vessel for your child."  
Gru nodded in shame. She knew he was sorry and she knew that it was genuine. So, Lucy moved closer to him and placed her hand on his cheek to make him look into her eyes again.  
"But I know that you weren't yourself in that moment. And I know your apology was real and true and honest…"  
"I'm an idiot,I know…"  
"Yes…yes, you are, Gru." And then she smiled. "But you're my idiot."

A sweet moment of silence followed with both of them looking into each other's eyes and cupping their faces. Gru leaned his forehead against hers and she closed her eyes to savor that moment. Before she let herself drop on the bed and pulled him with her until they were lying on his bed, the place they shared their deepest love and intimacy.  
"I've decided on keeping it." She whispered. "Y-yu-yu will?" He sat closer to her, still uncertain if she wasn't joking.  
"Are…are yu sure about dis…? Because…if yu are…I'll du anythin' for yu, I swear…" he carefully reached for her hand, as if she was a fragile doll. "I'll be dhere for yu …!" Just inches apart, she felt secure and safe in the bed, just focusing on the air between them and smiling warmly. "I know, big guy. But Gru –" her smile faded. "It's gonna be some tough months. . I'm gonna get big. I'm going to be moody, I'm going to be whiny. I will most likely be slow and you'll be impatient with me when I'm not walking fast enough. And I need to know that you're preparing yourself for this." Curling his lips into a way cockier smile, he chuckled softly, and then he kissed her on the lips, softly. "How culd I ever be impatient vith yu, hm?"  
She laughed softly into his chest. "You big lug, you…"

Again, none of them said a word but lying next to each other, caressing and holding and snuggling and sharing small squeezes and kisses. And it was perfect. She felt happy. She felt secure. She felt like she could only live through that pregnancy with him, together…  
"On the other hand..." she started again and tapped her chin. "My boobs are going to grow, I guess it has some benefits", she added jokingly.  
"I think I can live vith dat." Gru said with a smirk. "For yu…" he lifted up her chin to look into her eyes. "…anythin', my dear."  
She felt tears of relief building up from his reassuring words, the softness in his tone, the gentleness of his fingers running along her face as he put some threads of hair behind her ears…  
For a moment Gru was scared he hurt her somehow, or these moodswings had already sat in – but probably she was just relieved – and he was too. "Uh…Gru?"  
"Hm?"  
"The girls can't know yet. I'm just a few weeks in, I could easily …miscarry." She looked up in his face, making sure he heard of the risk. "I don't want to make them happy and then they'll see me rushing to the hospital all bloodied up."  
Gru gulped. He feared this word and he feared it would happen to her. Now that she apparently started to like this entire baby-business, it would be horrible for both of them, knowing their baby had died before it really started to involve. "Lucy, I'm sure it's goin' to be fine..." She nodded, feeling encouraged.  
"We don't have room for my furniture, but... I would like to move in here and I could rent my place out? I don't want to live alone in my apartment if anything would happen, and Gru, the risks are there." She buried herself up against his chest even more.

"I know…but as long as yu stay vith me and as long as yu take things a bit more easy, yu'll be fine…"

He was about to continue until he felt her lips on his skin beneath the fabric of his sweater. She had her fingers hooked in the collar of his sweater and tugged it down, lips now caressing the crook of his neck. A short shiver ran through his body, instinctively, his hands held closer to her, while one was slowly running down her waist. She suppressed a giggle when she felt his body shivering underneath her, she had managed to get him started, apparently. "Lucy..." he placed his hand beneath her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. "Yes, Gru…?" she said, in a sensual voice, eyes gleaming happily at him. "I love yu..." - "I love you too, Gru." She lifted her leg and let it travel over his hip, so they were closer still. She continued to tug at his collar, and found the collarbone, giving it butterfly kisses, moving towards the base of his neck.  
"L-Lucy, n-no, I'm ticklish dhere…" he stammered. "I know…" she said and winked at him.  
Gru's heart skipped a beat at her sensual tone. With his free hand, he cupped her thigh, stroking down the length of her leg and feeling her smooth and soft skin against his palm.  
He had to admit, he had missed her skin close to his and the feeling of her lips a bit. Sharing this intimacy with her was just soothing his nerves and made him forget about the previous, horrible hours of fighting and crying. Sighing silently, he enjoyed her lips on his skin, hands wandering over her thigh, up to the hem of her dress, feeling tiny tingles running down his spine and just as he was about to dip beneath her attire, he jumped as there was a knock on the door.  
"Not now!" he called, but that demand was ignored and suddenly three young girls opened the door and before Gru could protest, they jumped inside the bedroom.  
"Oh, goodness!" Lucy exhaled and both of them let go of each other, sitting up.  
"Gurls, come on, I said-"  
"Gru, are you and Lucy together again?"  
"A-Agnes..." he stammered a bit helplessly. He looked between Lucy and his daughter, but Lucy nodded in confirmation. Entwining his fingers with hers again, he smiled at Lucy.  
"Yes…we are, aren't we?"  
"Absolutely." Nodded Lucy.  
"So, no more fights? No more sadness? No more _'I screwed up?'_ " Margo asked and winked at her father.  
"No, neidher of dhem." Gru chuckled. "Yaaay! We're so happy!" Agnes jumped on the bed and gave both of them a big hug, as long as that was possible, being just too small to embrace both of them. "Yeah, happy...!" Edith rolled her eyes, but smiled and joined the group-hug.


	3. Nightmares

By the time now that Edith attended the training-dojo weekly, she was aware that wearing her black ninja-outfit wasn't quite fitting the dress code in such an occasion. Instead, she now held her used white tanktop and her pink leggins in the bag over her shoulder, smiling widely as they exited the dojo. The training was great and it had been such a great time to train with Lucy. First, she was a bit suspicious about her fathers idea to let her accompany Lucy to her training – to bond a bit with her - but now, she just enjoyed it.  
It had been a bit of a struggle first; She didn't really like the idea of Lucy moving into their house, and towards the new girlfriend of her Dad, she seemed distanced and almost jealous. She could understand. Suddenly some intruder barged into the small family and claimed Gru as hers as well. Gru even had to tell Lucy to delay her moving in for a week, because she felt like she was going to take space away – but that was in the past.  
Lucy was so cool, and even though Edith was still a beginner, she learned quickly from Lucy. Not only that, but she started to learn a lot from her, and Lucy also from Edith. She asked about how Gru and Lucy actually met and their first date, how she became an agent at all and about her exciting agent life.

"Thank you for bringing me home, Lucy." she said as they reached her blue little van, rubbing her upper arm. "I think this'll hurt in the morning, hehe!"  
"Haha!" Lucy opened up the doors for them to sit in the car. "Yes, you'll feel that often from now on, if you wanna look like this." She raised her arm and showed her muscles in her upper arm. "Whoa, cool!" Edith exclaimed and tensed her own – but there weren't many yet to be proud of.  
"Aww…" she said a bit discouraged.  
"You'll be as muscular and strong as me and your Daddy together someday!" Offering Lucy a big grin, she added: "You know, i haven't thought training would be that cool with you, but-i really do love it! You know, there are just mature adults and no annoying girls and boy in my age..."  
Yes, she really did like spending time around older people than actually children. Lucy sat herself in the driver's seat, readjusting the seatbelt for the bulge she started to feel in her abdomen. It wasn't that big yet. Edith hadn't seen it when working out, and when showering, she turned around with her back against the girl, but if she looked, she would know soon enough, especially if she looked at her breasts. They had swollen up half a cup. She had stopped wearing her favorite light blue dress, feeling the fabric getting tighter. And tonight, her instructor had taken her to the side, telling her she wasn't allowed to train there again until the child was born. She could still go to the gym, but that wasn't her concern. It was the little blond girl she had in tow. She could bring Edith and not work out herself, but she wasn't sure Edith would like that. It was worth a shot though, just to spend some more time with Edith, softening her up for Lucy to move in.

"Hey, uh… Edith?" she asked, insecurely. "Yes?"  
Lucy swallowed at how happy and excited she looked – it would definitely break her heart to hear her not-so-great news.  
"…S-something has happened. Nothing bad, but… I won't be able to train for a while, tonight was the last time for me." She started the engine and began driving out of the parking lot. "We could still do this, I guess. If you would want me to drive you over here, watch you train and then drive you home again. The instructor would like you to come every time then though, he told me. "  
"Wait-you, you cannot train anymore?" she asked, almost shocked and her smile dropped instantly. "B-but-but why? I-i don't wanna train alone, it wouldn't be half as fun!" Edith swallowed, but remembered what her father used to say: You can't have everything, so try to understand and cherish what you have. "U-uhm-sorry i mean...okay...I think I'll train alone then."

She looked down to her feet, a little upset about this sudden announcement.  
Lucy glanced back at her and felt guilty. Poor honey. If it wasn't for the sake of her and the baby, she definitely would have continued.  
"Edith…I'm very sorry…" she said. "I would continue with you, but…"  
Edith didn't answer.  
This whole thing was becoming g just too strange.  
First: Lucy's constant complaining about how sick she felt. Then: That ravenous appetite she seemed to have. Last night she had heard her asking Gru if he could cut her some watermelons – and then seconds later she wanted gingerbread.  
And not to forget she wanted to have a hotdog for breakfast. And now she couldn't even do sports anymore…

...

As they reached her home, she jumped out of the car, still quite sad about the fact she wouldn't be training with Lucy anymore, and as Gru opened the door for them, he saw how frustrated and downcast edith was.  
"Lucy-is everythin' okay?" he asked the redhead. "Did somethin' happen?"  
"Yeah." She said with a heavy sigh. "My instructor just told me that maybe it was time for me to 'take a break until I'm better' ", Lucy hinted with a roll of her eyes. It was the last straw for her this week. Her mission at the AVL was sooo boring, Silas had her do all kind of paper work, being afraid she would run off and do the spying stuff herself. She was almost climbing the walls from boredom. And now the ju jutsu. What was left for her to do was going to the gym, or read.  
"Oh..." Gru understood. "I see, uh-yeah it probably will be dhe best for yu." he answered. He wasn't that okay with seeing his pregnant Girlfriend working out that much, and he always was scared something could happen to the baby. So, he was almost glad to hear she'd stop now until the kid was born.

"But…I still could take Edith to the training. We would need to pay the fee, and Edith would have to start going every week, so I need your blessing first before I let her."  
"Of course I'll pay dhe fee, she shuld keep havin' fun vith trainin'. Right Edith?" he called back into the house, but all he heard was a muffled: "Leave me alone!" from upstairs. Gru sighed. She seemed quite gloomy now that she knew she'd work out alone. "As soon as she baby's here, yu can go and train vith her again, hm?" Lucy nodded.  
"Wow…it's going to be so boring now. My job sucks without missions…no training with edith…" She sighed heavily.  
"Do you have a cup of coffee ready? I need something before I drive home, I feel like I might fall asleep here on the porch."  
He closed the door behind them and led her to the kitchen. "Sure, I've got some-by dhe way, how is junior doin'?" he asked, gently stroking over her belly. "I hope it's not causin' any trouble."  
It had grown over the few weeks, and for the sake of the kids, he was glad she wore more wider clothes to hide the bulge from them.  
Lucy cringed and stepped away from his hand for a second, scared that still one of the kids were present.  
"S-sorry, Hon. I'm…I'm a bit scared the kids find out and it causes a drama." She whispered, but then returned to him and let him caress her belly. It was so sweet of him – he almost daily asked her how the baby and she is doing and everytime, he caressed the still quite flat part. There was still close to nothing to feel, and yet he was so mesmerized by it.

"The little one is fine. Last doctor appointment, they told me everything is going according to the charts. I still can't handle too sweet scents though." With that, she scooted the fruit bowl to the other end of the table, not wanting to be close to the bananas.  
"Just two weeks more – then we can tell the girls, yes?" He nodded. And then she sighed.  
"I just wish we had solved everything with Edith by now, and her issue with me moving in. I don't want to go to the doctor appointments alone, it feels so wrong without you, and I only get the early appointments when you're still sending your girls to school."  
"I'm sorry, honey…" he sighed. He really wished to have the next few appointments with her, soon they were going to make ultra-sound pictures – and he wanted to see the baby.  
"Hey…how about I'll talk to her again about dis, okay? I wun't tell her about dhe baby yet – but I think I can change her mind on lettin' yu stay here in future." She looked at him and cocked her head. "You think she ever would like me here?" - "She loves yu, Lu. But it alvays takes a whole lot until she is accustomed to new people." Lucy smiled.

Some moments later he led her back to the door and to her car, giving her a last kiss, then he returned back into his house and sighed. This was really not according to plan. He hoped the girls would love the idea of Lucy moving in, and none of them would make such a drama outta it. Gru wanted to have Lucy here, all the time, waking up next to her, helping her in her hard times and seeing their baby grow, but no...

Carrying Agnes to her bed, Gru knelt down next to Ediths bed, she had turned her back to him.  
"Edith, uh...can i tak to yu for a sec?"  
"Hm.." she mumbled.  
"Look, she does still vant to train vith yu, but at de moment, she jus' simply can't. Du yu understand dis?"  
"Hm!"  
"Edith, turn around and look at me!"  
"Hm-hm!"  
Gru sighed again.  
"Edith...I know yu have much fun vith Lucy, and she still will train vith yu, but...more observe yu, hm?"  
The ninja didn't answer.  
"Lucy told me it is not goin' to be long, really. Perhaps...uh...seven or eight months?"  
Edith turned around briefly, furrowing her eyebrows in anger and turning back to give him the cold shoulder.  
He gently brushed his hand over her head.  
"Hey...if Lucy wuld stay here, vith us - she culd train vith yu everyday. I'll give yu two dhe free space down in dhe lab, so yu can make it yur training ground, hm?"  
"She would...train with me everyday?" she turned around, finally interested in his words. "And you'd really give us that spot? You said you need it..."  
"Yu both need it more dhan me." he answered.  
"So vhat du yu say - yu think it's okay for yu if she lives here vith us, so yu both can train daily?"  
Edith hesitated, but then she nodded. "Okay...that sounds awesome! Have, uh-have I been the reason she hasn't moved in yet."  
"Uhm-partly, yeah." Gru shrugged slightly. "We weren't sure if yu'd feel uncomfortable with it..."  
"Sorry..." she mumbled. "It's fine sweetie..."  
He sat up and kissed her head. "Jus' dun't forget dat we love yu – and dat I'm proud of yu."  
And with that, he closed the door behind him, getting ready to go to bed himself.

...

Lucy sighed when she entered her dark apartment. Taking a glass of water from the kitchen, she laid herself in her bed and started to read, waiting for the coffee buzz to go away so she could sleep.  
Her bedroom was covered with books about pregnancies. Not being able to run long without back aches, and now, no ju jutsu, she didn't have much to do on her free time. So, she read. She felt comfortable when she was informed, so she read up on everything about pregnancies to reassure herself she would be prepared for anything, like a mission.  
She already went through the chapters with the contractions – no problem. She knew worse pain than that.  
And she read about possible positions to give birth. Putting her hand over the small bulge, she reached the chapter about breech births.

It wasn't a comfortable chapter, she had to admit.  
The text was hardly bearable – and as soon as she saw pictures, she could feel her stomach clenching.

_"In the more common breech presentations, the baby's bottom is what is first to descend through the maternal pelvis and emerge from the vagina.  
The baby usually turns to face the mother's back. Next occurs external rotation, which is when the shoulders emerge as the baby's head enters the maternal pelvis. The combination of maternal muscle tone and uterine contractions cause the baby's head to flex, chin to chest.  
Then the back of the baby's head emerges and finally the face, before—"_

Slamming the book together, she decided she didn't want to read more about any complications that could occur and imagine the dangers – and she definitely didn't want to see these horrible pictures anymore. She shoved the book to the end of her bed, before lying down again. She gulped.  
Now she remembered why she didn't want to become pregnant – the risk for the baby and mother to be harmed or even die were just threatening and scaring her. Her hand held onto the small bulge on her stomach. She just started to like the idea of being with child – but the fear came back again and again. She turned off the light and pulled the duvet over herself, trying to ignore her anxieties and fell asleep.

...

The next moment, Lucy opened up her eyes to knowing something was wrong. She felt a stinging pain in her back, and when she pulled the covers off, she was that her belly had fully grown! Jumping up from the bed, she was confused. What was this? She had come to full term? Another pang of pain shot in her back, and she felt something wet falling into underwear. Taking off her pyjamas, she saw a white fluid liquid. Her water broke!

Getting up her phone from the bedside table, she called Gru's number. No answer. She tried twice again, gasping from her abdomen muscles being pulled together involuntarily, still no answer. Desperate for help, she called Silas, no answer there either. She put her pyjamas back on, put on a jacket and called the AVL headquarter. No one. Putting a hand on the door, the handle cracked. She was locked inside. 911. Just as Lucy pressed the digits, the phone ran out of juice.  
"No!" Lucy shouted to the phone. Desperately looking for the charge, she felt her muscles pull together again. The baby was coming. Pulling off her clothes, she saw blood running down over her legs.

The delivery was hard, and painful, and blood was flowing out over the floor where she was sitting, too weak to actually pull herself up on the bed. Reaching down with her hands, she felt what was wrong. The baby was the wrong way and stuck midway. She was having a breech-birth! Too weak to push the child out, everything blackened.

...

Lucy bolted up from her laying position in a shout. Hands running around her body, she made sure the belly was still almost flat, with the tiny bulge. Sweat was dropping down her forehead and she gulped down the nausea that was caused by this horrible dream. She really did dream the worst nightmare ever… Looking over at the digital watch, she saw the numbers. 3:42. She breathed heavily and still had her hands hovered over her belly, she looked on the door where the knob had been broken in her dream – it was tightly fixed to the door.  
She pulled down her underwear to see if there was something to worry about – nothing.  
And then tears ran down her face as she started whimpering and sobbing.

...

A noise!

Gru woke up, instantly, his eyes roaming around the dark room. He had a light sleep and ever since the kids used to enter his bedroom in the middle of the night to complain about a nightmare or sleeplessness and if they could spend the night in his bed, he was alert, always.  
He hadn't had to seek long for the source of the sounds he heard, right on the other side of the bed, the nightstand was glowing, and something vibrated on the surface of the wooden tiny board. He rolled over, grabbing his phone and with narrowed eyes, he let out an annoyed huff. Blinking several times, the name "Lucy" appeared on the screen. Lucy? Why did she call? At that time? A bit startled, he pressed the green button.

"Mhh-yeah?"  
"Gru?"  
"Lucy, vhat is it...?" he asked. She sounded like she had been crying. Or as if she had seen a suddenly he heard her voice cracking, and she started to sob and cry. Gru was wide awake! Jumping out of his bed, he heard his own heartbeat starting to increase.  
Oh god, what was wrong? Did something happened? Did she hurt herself or...has something happened to the baby?  
"L-lucy, vhat's wrong?"  
"I-I—I had a nightmare."  
The fear something happened to her or the child dropped instantly. A nightmare..? Apparently it was a terrible one, she never cried because of nightmares.  
"Oh, honey, I-" he tried to comfort her, but she wouldn't stop crying. He would have said the same to his kids when they were complaining about terrible dreams – that it was not real and nothing would happen to her. But she seemed to desperate…  
Looking to the clock, he had to recognize it was the middle of the night, and in about three hours he had to get up again. He tried again to console her and tell her she was okay, but she wouldn't listen to him.  
"Lucy, hang in dhere, I'll come over to yu..."  
"O-O—Okay…"

...

"Gru, what happened?"  
Margo joined her father in the hallway, he was about to grab his jacket and scarf. "Where are you going?"  
"Lucy called me." he said. "Somethin's wrong vith her."  
"Oh my god!" she gasped. "D-did she miscarry?"  
"Vhat-No!" Gru hissed back at her, almost angry to hear that from her mouth. "She jus' had a nightmare and I'll make sure she's fine..."  
Margo sighed. "Okay...good. I'm settled."  
"Margo, yu haven't told dhe odhers about-" - "Nope, I haven't! Not a word!"  
"Good. Okay, look, I'll return in some hours, stay here and go to bed again, okay? And make sure dat Agnes and Edith are still sleeping, okay?"  
"Sure...!"

Some moments later, Gru stood in front of her door and knocked. "Lucy, it's me...!" he called.  
The door was opened – and a completely shocked and frightened Lucy jumped into his arms. He caught her, still a bit startled.  
Desperately holding him, she was grateful that her phone had worked, he had answered her, and the door would open. The nightmare had felt so real, she was still shaking and sobbing when he arrived. "Lucy…Lucy, shhh…" he stroked her hairline and held her close to his chest. "I'm here…I'm here, honey…"  
"Oh Gru…" she sobbed like a little baby.  
"I had a horrible nightmare, I was full term. And- and-" She gulped, trying to get strength to say the words. "I went into labour, but the baby wouldn't come out. And I was all alone. In this apartment." She clund to him tighter, face deep down in his shoulder, muffling her voice. "You wouldn't answer your phone. Silas didn't answer, the AVL didn't answer. I couldn't get to the hospital. There was so much blood and I was in so much pain." Gasping for air, she hugged him as tight as she could, wishing she could escape inside of him. "Gru, I died. Alone." Gru gasped silently. Oh dear lord…That did sound way she described it, the labor, her desperation being alone with her pain...And her death...

His heart clenched in his chest and he gulped heavily.  
"Oh, Lucy..." he breathed  
"Oh, Lucy, shhh...it's fine. It's fine..." he said, calmly, pressing her head into his shoulder, nuzzling his face into her hair.  
He listened to her sobbing and crying, brushed his hand over her hair. "It's okay, I'm here, Lucy...I'm not leavin' yu..."  
Lucy sobbed, both startled, and yet so happy he was here for her and that she could be with him and hug him and feel him… She almost didn't feel how he lifted her up and carried her back into her bedroom, onto the small bed and sat down with her, still holding her securely in his arms, kissing her face and brushing away her tears. "It was jus' a nightmare, honey…"  
"I know..." She said in a whiny voice. "But it felt so …real. And that is where we're at now, Gru. I live here by myself." Lucy shivered in his arms. "I don't want that. I don't want be alone when it's time." Nuzzling against his chest, she tried to calm herself. Gru hugged her tightly, held her as close as possible to him.  
"I-I'm scared…Gru, I'm scared…I wanna be with you, I want you to stay at my side…but…but Edith…"  
Poor Lucy…She had to deal with so much at the moment, and he wished he could help.  
He couldn't leave her here anymore. She had to stay with them, with him, where she was secure and where he could watch over her.  
He wasn't really fine with her staying away from his house, and he wouldn't endure this any longer...  
In a long moment of silence, his mind started to spin, so many thoughts and so many words he wanted to speak out. Taking a deep breath, he whispered: "Lucy..."  
He tightened his hug a bit more.

"Marry me..."

He let go of her, looked down at her.  
Lucy blinked a few times, staring at the man she was dating.  
"I can't let yu stay here, all by yur own, i jus' can't. I'm scared too, i dun't wanna lose yu, i dun't wanna let yu go again and again, knowin' anythin' culd happen to yu...Please, marry me...!"

Did he just propose?

Did he just _PROPOSE_ in the middle of the night?

Did he just propose to her in the middle of the night to comfort her from her fears?

Her eyes grew saucer and her heart nearly skipped three beats.  
They had dated for eight months. She knew him well enough to understand that he wouldn't had proposed if it wasn't for the pregnancy. That this was an act out of desperation to help her. To protect her and their child. It was sweet, but…  
"No." She said firmly. She took a slow breath, gathering her thoughts.  
Gru stared back at her in disbelief.  
"Gru…honey…I love you and someday I might want to marry you… but I want to give birth to our child first so it's not the reason you're proposing, and then we'll see if you still want me as your wife." Gru tilted his head, and quirked an eyebrow above his eye, almost looking like a little puzzle puppy. She rejected him, although he counted several reasons to be married? Let alone the child...? But then he realized again that this wasn't his decision – but hers. About to respond with a firm: _'I'd always want yu as my wife',_ he just nodded, taking her hands in his and stared back at their fingers. "I uh-I'm sorry, I-i know dis kinda came outta dhe blue and-I mean we haven't been togedher dat long, I jus'-"

"Sweetie…"  
She took a gentle grip of his chin, making sure he was looking her in the eyes.  
"No need to apologize big guy, you did nothing wrong." She kissed him on his lips. "I just don't want this pregnancy to cloud our judgment. And I don't want us to assume we should be married because we're having a kid. If we want to marry later, we can do that. There's no best before-date." She smiled at him.  
"Ohh…yes…of course…" he licked his lips and nodded.  
Lucy nevertheless pulled him into a hug and he hugged her back.  
"I love you, Gru…"  
"I love yu too…"  
A moment of silence lingered between the couple, before Lucy looked back up at him.  
"You – you should go back to your kids. They need you, don't they?"  
"Lucy, I think yu really shuld stay at my place tonight." he said, hoping she'd agree.  
"B-But…" Lucy gulped. "But what about Edith?"  
"I have been talkin' to Edith - and she told me she's fine vith yur movin' in. She loves yu and she trusts yu - oh uh, and I have promised her dat yu and she'll probably will train daily after dhe birth." he grinned, almost awkwardly.  
"So, yu still wanna move to me?"

Lucy blinked a couple of times, staring at her boyfriend in shock. Then, without explanation, she jumped out of the couch. She grabbed a sport bag and tossed in clothes in amounts to last a week, got her stuff from the bathroom, and ran over to the kitchen, grabbing the stuff that would go bad within the next few days and packed in an ice-box. Gru watched him with a strange fascination. She stopped in front of him with a smile.  
"Eh, yes, I do. Let's go." With a smile, she picked up the keys from their place and walked out with the stuff in her arms, ready to lock after the both of them left the apartment.

...

Back home, Gru made sure Lucy went straight to bed. He gave her some of the pillows she usually used, put the blanket over both of them and then with terribly tired and sloppy movement, he rolled onto the bed and accidentally bumped into her, both chuckling before they found a comfortable position where they could sleep. Gru held her in his arms, spooning her. And for the first time this evening, Lucy felt safe. Safe and sound and loved and cared for – and she felt nothing but gratitude and deepest affection towards him.

It wasn't much there yet, and still Gru's hand crawled beneath her shirt to brush over the bulge of her tummy. If he couldn't feel how it would grow when the kids were around, at least he'd be glad to feel it when they were alone. Lucy jumped suddenly by his movement, but relaxed again when she knew it was him… she felt herself blush. There was barely anything there yet, she mostly looked like she'd had a big meal. But she guessed that to Gru, it was the world right now. He could see their baby grow. Her heart melted by how gentle he was and how sweetly he was admiring this place in her body…With a light sigh, he kissed her hair.  
"Sorry again...for dat stupid proposal." he whispered, almost dozing off.  
"_Stupid_ proposal?" She turned her head towards him. "Oh, honey, it wasn't stupid. It was… ill-planned. Timing isn't your thing, huh?"  
"Mh-mh." Gru replied and she laughed. She hugged his hand, making it press against the bulge, feeling it properly, while dozing off herself.

"Gru…?"  
"Mh…yes…?" he mumbled, very sleepy.  
"Uhm uh…I really would like to have some tomatoes on bread right now…and, uhm…and some roastbeef...as a midnight snack..."  
"-Mhhph…_anythin'_ for yu, my dear…" he muttered sleepily, before walking downstairs into the kitchen.


	4. Sign of Life

"Okay, gurls, yu brushed yur teeth, made yur hair, had breakfast - Agnes, dun't draw Mister Fluffy through dhe puddles again, I'm not sure if I'll get his fur white again next time! Edith, dun't bite yur classmates, Margo - dun't speak to boys, okay? Okay!"  
"Hey, hey slowly there!" Margo stopped Gru and crossed her arms.  
"Why are you so eager to get rid of us huh?"  
"Rid of yu? I-I jus' think yu guys shuld hurry so yu'll get dhe bus for school!"  
"But why can't you drive us to school?" Asked Agnes.  
"Hon, I told yu i need dhe car today so i can bring Lucy to dhe doctor, dat's all."  
"Why exactly does she have a doctor-appointment?"  
"Out of dhe same reason she isn't going to train vith yu for a while now, Edith, so enough vith dhe questions now!"  
"But you never told us why Lucy is-"  
"Ooh, guys, look, dhere is dhe bus, okay, yu have much fun, be polite and burn anythin' except shakespear, okay? Okay, aaand bye!"

Pushing them outside the door, he closed it behind him and sighed loudly. He didn't want to kick them out like that. But what else should he tell them without unsettling them or arousing any floods of questions.  
But he was already stressed enough!  
He was scared of the appointment - he was scared that anything could be wrong, or that their baby was sick...it was their first ultrasound, one of the many, yet he was already scared, but excited at the same time. There wouldn't be much to see, probably - but who knows.  
"Lucy, dhe kids are off. Are yu done dressin'? We..." he gulped. "We gotta go."  
"Just a minute!" Lucy shouted out the bedroom. A last check in the mirror, she readjusted the clothes she wore, somewhat loose linen together with one of Gru's old shirts she had never seen him in but she liked the fabric of. The linen without shirt would show the belly too much when the girls got home, but she really needed thin fabrics on a hot day like this. A few buttons under the bust tightened the outfit up, and she sprinted out, running down the stairs and put on her most comfortable ballerina shoes.

"I know we've gotta go, but I won't go out just looking like something the cat dragged in", she muttered and pulled her curly hair into a ponytail.  
"Honey, yu look fine, now come on…"  
"Stop telling me that!"  
Ugh, those mood-swings! Gru had to suffer her moody self for the last three weeks, and thinking that this was going to go on the next seven and a half months, he mentally groaned.  
"Heh…sorry, Gru. I'm just nervous, alright? We're actually going to see the baby today. Can you believe it!" She jumped from excitement and grabbed his hands, and he pulled her closer.  
This was the day they were also going to find out what gender it had.  
He himself was feeling his hands slightly shaking, questions, concerns and whatnot filled his mind and he just waited for the right moment to ask them and share them with her, but for now, he wouldn't disturb her own happiness.  
"Yaay..." he said, holding their in the air, just sounding about half as enthusiastic as her. She pouted. "Now now, mister Grumpy-pants. Aren't you happy to see junior yourself?" - "Yes…of course I am." He gave in and smiled. "Alright then, let's go!"  
He closed the door behind them and they jumped into her little blue vehicle. His was more comfortable than hers, but it was hard to find a double-parkinglot.

Lucy had no trouble fitting inside – but Gru, as always, had trouble with the with of his shoulders.  
"Ugh, dis thing is like a lunchbox on wheels." "I just like it…cozy."  
"Tell dat my too big body."  
Lucy just rolled her eyes, yet she grinned.  
As soon as they sat inside and started to drive, Gru took a deep breath and looked at her.  
"Uh, Lucy, uh-vhat if dhere's somethin' wrong vith dhe baby? I-i mean it's not uncommon dat dhey can have, uh, diseases or even uh-yu know, disabilities." he shrugged.  
He knew that back in his pedigree nothing of these things ever happened, nor was his bloodline prone to serious diseases, but who knows.  
"Oh?" Of all things she had thought about, the child's genetics were none of them. She had been worried about the birth itself and things, but not the health of the baby. She all of a sudden felt very guilty over that. "Well, uhm…the risk for those things ARE higher when the mother is old, and I am no spring chicken. But we'll see. If it's something so wrong with it so it won't survive, heaven forbid, then I guess we need to..." She swallowed hard.

"Gru, promise me you won't freak out, but if it's something way too serious that it won't survive from, like the brain being outside of the head or something, then we need to abort it, and I can't have you raging at neither me nor the doctor if that is the case."  
Too serious to survive? He barely knew anything about diseases, his interests were mostly fixed on science, and not on biology.  
"I-uhm-" He already was startled but the thought something very serious would be with their baby was only making him more stressed. "I-I-I wun't freak out..." he said, more scared than angry about her thought of, after all, killing it so it wouldn't have to suffer. But would that be really needed? He just hoped so much it wouldn't happen.  
She took a deep breath in relief and tried to be cheery again. "Good news is that I'm perfectly healthy, no allergies what I know of, never had any diseases, just issue with getting burnt instead of tanned…you know?" She tugged on her red curls and laughed. But Gru wasn't as cheery as she was.

"Dis really sedates me..." he mumbled absently-minded and in a sarcastic manner, brushing his hand over his forehead.  
And suddenly, something struck him. "Hey, speakin' about dat-" he quickly changed the subject. "Uhm, I dun't think I have already asked yu, but-vhat du yu wish dhe baby to become? A boy or a girl?"  
"Oh, I dunno. Both are good I guess." She stayed silent for a beat, before she changed her mind. "No, wait both are not good. Both are still pretty terrifying." Gru frowned at her. "It's just - How would I be a good mother to a girl if she ends up being, you know - boyish?" She huffed in frustration. "On the other hand, having a boy would be even harder. I don't have much experience either way to know what I would prefer. How about you Gru? Do you want a first son or a fourth daughter?" She put a hand over the small bulge, trying to imagine both.

She had been thinking about this a long while – what he would want. Of course, he would want a boy. A first son! He had his three girls already and a man like Gru – she always thought that if he ever would have had a wife, he would be the father of a male offspring.  
Within a short amount of time, he replied: "I'd be okay vith both, I guess. " he shrugged, but then he placed a hand upon her cheek and smiled at her. "Hun, dun't yu worry, yu're a wonderful Mom, and no matter vhat it will be - yu'll du a great job, okay? Trust me..."  
Lucy tried to figure out what was more taking effect right now: Her surprise he didn't say a son right away – or the way he encouraged her. She went along with smiling at him.  
"And you're a wonderful Daddy."  
While they were driving, he started to imagine what it would be to have a son or a daughter. He knew how to handle a female, he had his girls, and he loved them more than anything. He knew it was important to keep their hair always brushed, to play with dolls instead of cars, he knew that they weren't much into the stuff he liked back when he was a boy, and the older they'd become, the more he had to make sure they weren't doing something they'd regret. But a boy...  
He would suck at trying to raise the only male kid in the house, he was sure.

Lucy suddenly noticed how pale he had become during the entire conversation.  
"Hun…you okay?"-"Y-yeah, s-sure…" he nodded.  
"Good! We're here." She stepped out of the car, locked it and walked towards the ob. Looking back at her boyfriend, she got the feeling that the support today was going to be her for him and not the other way around. "Just sit and listen to me talking to the doctor, and if you have any questions, ask." She grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, and Gru nodded with a lump in his throat.

...

Inside the hospital, Gru felt all his confidence sinking instantly. He didn't like hospitals. He didn't like them at all. The metallic and burning scent of medication, the bright light that hurt his eyes, the white walls and suits of the nurses, it made him crazy, but for her, he stood tall and pulled himself together.  
They were told to sit in front of a door that probably was the office of the doc, but however, Gru didn't let go of Lucy's hand during the entire time, even as they were called to meet the doctor inside his office. From there on, he left the talking to Lucy.  
Lucy and Gru entered the office, that at the moment was empty. No biggie, the doctor would be there soon. Lucy went straight to sit on the strange chair that had two supports by the bottom and Gru followed. She looked around the room, checking the diplomas and information posters like she'd done before. Within a minute or two, Lucy's gynecologist, Dr Saxena, got in with a smile.  
"Lucy, so glad to see you! And this must be...?" Lucy turned towards Gru, and with a pat on his back, she smiled.  
"Hey! This is Felonious Gru, he's the father." The doctor reached a hand to both of them to shake, welcoming them. The handshake was firm but gentle, and to Lucy's constant relief, warm hands.  
"Welcome Felonious, I hope everything is fine."  
"Y-yah, yah." He assured her with a gulp. "Just fightin' a nearin' panic-attack, dat's all."  
The Doctor laughed. "It's okay. I can understand if you're nervous. First child, I assume?" - "Furst biological child, yes…" he tugged on the turtleneck of his sweater. "Honey, you can wait outside, hm?" Lucy comforted him. "No…no,no, dun't worry." He shook his hand, grinning awkwardly.

"So Lucy, today is the day! We're gonna do an ultrasound." She nodded eagerly.  
"Already having ideas which gender you'd prefer?"  
"We're good with both." She said for him. - "Alright then…you sit down on the bank and I'll get the ultra-sound device…"  
Lucy jumped on the flat cot and pulled up her shirt to reveal the quite grown belly. The doctor took out the ultrasound-device, covered it up with lube, and Lucy grabbed Gru's hand. "Don't worry Lucy", the doctor said. "It'll be a little cold but won't hurt at all." Still, Lucy pinched Gru's hand a little when the doctor put the ice-cold scanner on her belly-button. Then she turned the machine on.  
That thing was huge, he was sure they would hurt her or harm the baby when she continued to press it that hard on her belly!  
He held her hand a bit tighter, although the rest of his body felt like the minion had shot his freeze-ray at him, frozen to the toes. And out of any reason he just couldn't stop staring at what she was doing there with that device on his girlfriend, until his attention was drawn to the monitor next to the chair. While the doctor moved the device over her, the buzzing blackness on the screen changed, step by step, until something popped up on the screen. It was something round and apparently quite big, but as she moved onward, he could swear he saw something_ inside_ that big round organ.  
"Ah, here we go." the doctor mumbled, and suddenly Gru's eyes widened.

A little something, not much bigger as his hand, was revealed inside. It had a giant head, some accentuation's that perhaps could be a nose or even lips, and downwards he could see some tiny, thin sticks, probably the legs or the arms. It lied there, inside that big round organ, barely moving.  
That was their baby.  
He cracked a smile, overwhelmed by what he saw there. Just some weeks it was inside Lucy and they already could see what it looked like.  
She looked over at Gru, breaking out in a smile when she saw his eyes go wide. He couldn't say a word, but staring and grinning and he saw her staring at the screen herself. Lucy looked over at the monitor, seeing the little form that was inside of her. Then she turned back to Gru, sharing a smile. She had never seen him smile this genuine.  
"It looks absolutely normal Lucy and Felonious, you have nothing to worry about. Single little baby. I... I can't see if it's a girl or boy yet."  
"Oh, dat's alright," Gru said. "We haven't decided if we vant to know yet."  
"Well, I'll write down that everything looks fine. You can your clothes back on now." The doctor shut the machine down and pulled away, leaving room for Lucy to get down and get dressed again.

"Now, is there anything you two need to know before you skedaddle home again?" The doctor leaned over to a printer, and handed them all papers, including a print of the ultrasound.  
"Not really. Everything's fine? There's nothing wrong?" The doctor shook her head with a smile.  
"Well, as much as I have seen yet, your child seems to develop into a perfectly healthy individual."  
Gru sighed in relief and Lucy smiled up at him.  
"See? Nothing to worry about."

Given the print, some documents and some bright smiles on both of their faces, both took a look at the photo that was taken. It wasn't much to see, and yet he recognized the form of the baby, it's spheroidal head, the tiny frame and thin limbs which were crouched to its body.  
He didn't say much, almost nothing until they stood outside the hospital, heading back to the car. And then he suddenly blurted everything out in a tone of bliss, fuss and astonishment.  
"Did yu see it, Lucy? Di-did yu see how tiny it is?" he beamed at her.  
"I _DID_!" She shouted in excitement as tears were running down her face in happiness.  
"I-It was so tiny, Gru! Like, not even the size of a kitten! And it'll grow so big soon!"  
"Y-yes!" Gru grabbed Lucy and hugged her with a swirl around. "I-I can't believe it, I have never seen such a thing before..." "Yes…and - And it's well! _Whohoo!"_

Looping her arms around her, they hugged each other tightly, the future parents chuckled and whispered and squealed in happiness.  
They hadn't been seeing much of it yet, and Gru already couldn't believe the wonder of mother nature.  
"Oh! Gru, We should totally tell the girls soon! I want to hang that picture up on the fridge!" She scooted closer with him to the car.  
"Both are good ideas – and vhen? Today?"  
"Naah - How about next week, the day after they're on holiday? We can bring them to Super Silly Fun Land and spend the whole day with them and then tell them the news when we get home!"  
"A'right, sounds good!" He chuckled. If he loved one thing more than anything, then it was things working just right according to plan...

...

"Uhm-Agnes, Edith, vhy are yu home already?"  
Okay…  
This was apparently not working according to plan.  
Gru hadn't even entered the mansion, and he already noticed that the jackets and schoolbags of the girls lied around the floor, the youngest carrying a big colorful box across the hallway. "Oh-hey Gru, hey Lucy!" she greeted. "They gave us off school, it was too hot in the classrooms." Gru looked back at Lucy for a split second, seeing she was just as surprised over their appearance here as their father. "So, how was the doctor appointment?" Asked Margo. "Everything's fine?" Lucy smiled towards the girls while taking off her shoes. "Everything is fine, even better than fine." She said. "The doctor didn't find any issues"  
"Does that mean you can train ju jutsu again?" Edith asked hopefully. Lucy looked over at Gru, not knowing what to say. But Gru bit his lip and slowly shook his head. "Uh - No sweetie, not yet. The doctor wants me to take it easy for a while on." - "But can you play Twister? I found it in the attic." The girls beamed at her and she started laughing. "Sure Agnes, I'd love to. Gru, my papers are in the handbag if you need to check on them. I'll be in the living room for a bit." She followed the two youngest girls and set up the game.

Gru and Margo watched them taking the game into the living room, and the eldest looked up at her father.  
"Ain't yu playin' vith dhem?" he asked.  
"Nope!" she shook her head, grinning knowingly.  
"So, yu have photos?"  
Gru nodded, picked up Lucy's handbag and pulled out some sheets of paper and a photo. "But let's go to dhe kitchen, I dun't want Edith and Agnes to see dis already."  
"And when will you both tell them?"  
"Hm, probably next week? We'll have some things prepared for yu guys!"  
Following her father into the kitchen, he finally revealed her the photo that was taken.  
"Oh my god!" she cheered silently. "That's amazing! Look at it, it almost looks like a fully evolved baby!"  
"Yeah..." he chuckled. "It's all healthy and fine, we'll have some odher checks on it around dis week, but so far, it is developin' jus' fine!"  
"You already know the gender?"  
"Nah, we can check on dat in six days."  
He put the photo back into the stack of paper.  
"But shh, no word to yur sisters, deal?"  
"Deal!"

Agnes was sitting on the couch, watching Lucy and Edith okay after she had fallen, now in charge of the board that showed what you were gonna do.  
"So Lucy, how come you're not on some funny mission like Gru gets send out on? Did you get demoted?" Lucy huffed, standing in a weird position over Edith, trying to answer Agnes' questions. "Nah Agnes, Director Ramsbottom needs me right now at the headquarters for important conferences and meetings. In fact, it's more like I got promoted!"  
"But why?" Edith asked, moving her hand to blue. Lucy was a bit taken aback at the question.  
"Well, Edith, don't you think I deserve a promotion?"

"Sure you do. What did you do to deserve it?"  
"Well, Edith, I've worked hard. I've been with the AVL for years, but got moved here to recruit someone who could handle the El Macho business. I'm specialized in profiling and identifying both the bad guys, but also find fitting new members. And Silas thought he needed a second hand now due to things changed in the head office." The girl looked suspicious, as if she was trying to determine if Lucy lied or told the truth.  
"Right foot on yellow!" Agnes shouted. Lucy stretched out her leg, but fell and knocked everything over when Agnes burst out in surprise.  
"Lucy, what's **_that!_**?" Lucy and Edith landed their bottoms at the floor, both confused.  
"Sorry Edith, I guess you won."  
"That's alright."  
"Lucy!"  
"What is it Agnes?" The little girl crawled up into Lucy's lap and started tugging on the shirt. Lucy was about to protest, but before she realized what was going on, Agnes had pulled up the fabric enough to expose her whole belly and Lucy gave a surprised yelp. She put a tiny finger and ran it over a dark streak that was going from her panty line to halfway toward her navel. "What's that? You haven't had that before." Lucy looked between the girls and then back at the place where Gru had left a few moments ago. Well…this was definitely not going according to plan – but the cat has been let out of the sack.  
"It's a linea nigra, Agnes. Sometimes mommies get that when they're having a baby." The shout from the little girl could be heard all through the house.  
_"YOU HAVING A BABYBELLY!?"_

Margo dropped the photo, and Gru the rest of the paper. The sound of Agnes voice echoed through the entire house, and he was sure, people outside have had heard her as well. Did Agnes just said...babybelly? Looking up, all across the hallway and into the living room, where Lucy was sitting on the board with the many colorful circles and Agnes, sitting in Lucy's lap and poked her exposed belly. "Oh...damn..." mumbled Margo, finally realizing what was going on. She slowly turned back to Gru, who stared from the scene in the other room back to his daughter, and back to Lucy.  
They found out.  
Edith turned around, looking at her father, and he saw how everything, really everything, suddenly seemed legit for her. The sudden and quick moving in, the way she acted towards her, the omission of the training-hours, the wide clothes... Lucy gave Gru an apologizing glance.  
Margo bit her lips, seeing that Gru indeed had a lot to explain them. He, himself, felt his sweater increasing in heat, and nervously, he nibbled on his lower lip. "Uhm...here, you'll need this." she put the photo of the ultrasound in his hand. Gru took the photo, looked back at it, before he took a deep breath and entered the living room.

"Uhm...Edith, Agnes, Margo, uhm-may we have a talk togedher?"  
The kids turned to him and he sat down on the ground to be closer to them. Lucy stood up and moved next to him, grabbing his free hand.  
"Me and Gru, we uh, we wanted to tell you guys about it, really! We just thought we should wait until next week, but...yes, it's true."  
He offered a weak smile. "Yu guys are gettin' a leetle siblin'."  
Gru held up the photo, showing it to Agnes and Edith, and boths eyes widened.  
The ex-villain glanced back at Lucy, pressing his lips together, feeling a bit guilty they kept it a secret from the entire time.  
Lucy felt like the odd one out. Every now and then, one of the three girls glanced over her, her belly in particular. She felt so exposed, so naked. The truth had come out and absolutely not how they had planned.  
"So, you're _pregnant?_" Edith asked. It was the only thing she had said for minutes. Her arms crossed, the beanie pressed hard over her face, Lucy had a hard time reading the little girls emotions.  
"Yeah, I am. That is…that is the reason I cannot train with you anymore, Edith…I'm sorry, but – yes, I'm pregnant."  
She didn't get much more time to explain before little Agnes jumped up on her with a cheer.  
"I'm gonna be a big sister!" Lucy grabbed Agnes in surprise. "I'm not gonna be the smallest anymore! Is it a girl or a boy?"  
"Oh, sweetie, we're not sure yet. You see, with how far I've gone, the baby's ge-"

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO HAPPY WHEN GRU IS REPLACING YOU!?" In a sudden moment, everything stopped. Margo, Lucy, Gru and Agnes looked at their sister in shock.  
"Edith, we're not replacin' yu." Gru tried to console his daughter. "Dis was a total accident and we veren't tr-"  
"WELL IT HAPPENED." The girl got her face straight up towards Lucy's and if she had been an adult, Lucy would have feared for the safety of her and the baby. There was so much anger and hurt in the little girl's eyes. "You just had to come and make an own." Before Lucy could calm her down and have her explain what was really on her mind, the blond girl ran away from the family and up to her room.  
Silence filled the room. The previous happiness over the new member of the family faded instantly. Lucy looked over to Gru and felt like she was going to cry any second.  
"I-I'm…" she stammered. "I'm sorry…this was a bad idea…"  
"No, no it vasn't, honey…" He approached her and hugged her and his daughters, comforting them. "She jus' - snapped I guess..."  
That did definitely not go as planned. Nothing about this.  
He knit his eyebrows together. He didn't feel sad, or sorry for Edith - he was simply angry. What the hell was wrong with her, acting the goat?  
"I'll go and talk to her..." he growled a bit as he walked into the hallway. "But Gru, honey…?" Lucy caught his hand before he left.  
"Please…don't be too hard with her, okay?"  
Gru blinked a few times, before he nodded.

He stomped upwards the stairs, opened the door and closed it behind him. Edith sat behind her bomb-bed, crouched together and her beanie pulled over her eyes. "Edith..." he said, firmly. "Edith, vhat was dat now? Yu can't jus' yell at her for bein' pregnant, du yu think we have actuall dat in dhe first place to make yu feel replaced?"  
"Go away!" Edith yelled back at him.  
"No Edith, I have enough! I simply have enough of yur-"  
"GO AWAY!" she grabbed a stuffed animal and threw it after him. "Just go back to your beloved girlfriend and your own little CHILD!"  
"Edith, stop dat, okay? Dat's jus' rubbish!"  
_"IT'S NOT!"_ Tears ran down her red face, anger in her eyes. "I have seen people's true character - I know what's like to be thrown away! I know this story - you and Lucy are going to have that _'thing'_ and then you'll forget about us! Everything you'll think about is that _thing_! Everything you'll talk about is that_ thing!_ You'll just care about your own kid and you'll push us away from you! You'll leave us alone...I bet you even would give us back to Miss Hattie!"  
"Vhat?! No, dat's not true! I'd _ R_ give yu back to Hattie!"  
"Yes you will...yes you will..."  
The girl broke down crying, burying her face in her hands and Gru couldn't do anything but stare at her in shock.

That..._thing_...

He knew the pain of being alone his entire life - but knowing what it feels like to rely on somebody so much, and they'll let you down like what she had witnessed...  
Gru knelt down getting on her level and put his hand on her head to pat it slightly. He was lucky she wouldn't push him away. She accepted it silently, but he knew that she hated him right now more than anything. "You don't love us anymore, do you?"  
"Edith...no." he whispered, calmly. "I'd never, ever give yu back again. I love yu, I love yu more dhan anythin' in my life..."  
Edith just continued to sob and whimper. "They told me that too - and then they gave me away. They replaced me by a stupid baby and left me alone, all by my own." - "Yu really think I am 'dhem', Edith?"  
The blonde looked back at her father. "Yu really think I am a person to du dat to my own daughters? - Givin' yu up like yu're not dhe most important part in my life?" Gru brushed off her tears from her face, caressing her cheeks. "Honey, I'll never let yu go again - i promised dis to yu, remember? And I'll keep my promise." Edith grimaced again, fresh tears rolling over her face. She barely cried. She was such a tough, strong little girl and he never saw her crying that much as today. Whether as she hurt her ankles as she fell off that tree, nor as Kyle bit her, nor as they have these very, very hard fights. The blonde repressed another whimper, but Gru already had pulled her close to his chest, pressing her tightly against his body. "Oh, Edith..." he whispered softly, her tiny arms clung to his collar and she continued to cry into his shoulder. Stroking over her head gently he kissed her forehead, her temples and her hair, rocking slightly to calm her down. "Shhh, it's fine, it's fine, baby-gurl..."

After some more minutes, Edith walked with Gru holding her hand back into the living room and looked up at Lucy in shame. She gulped, twice and then she whispered: "I'm…I'm sorry, Lucy."  
Lucy had been sitting with the photos on the couch, with Margo and Agnes, to distract them and help them get over the shock. But now she smiled at her.  
"Oh, pumpkin…it's okay…" she smiled at her and caressed her cheek. "I'm not mad with you at all…you wanna join your siblings and see your sibling?"  
She nodded, jumping up on the couch and sat next to her. "Do you guys already know if it's going to be a girl or a boy?" she asked.  
"No, we don't. You see, there is the head, and that's the legs and arms", she pointed out what every white blob meant for the girls. "And here is where we would have been able to see the sex. But the baby had the leg in the way, and might have not developed yet. You see, at the start, all babies are female."  
"No way!" Agnes said surprised.  
"_Way_. Then a bit in the pregnancy, the sex is transformed into a penis if it's gonna be a male, and continues the same path as before if it's gonna me female."  
The girls have gathered closely around Lucy and all looked at the photo with interest, following her explanation. For each of them, the photo showed something else - for Agnes a little, gorgeous baby sister she could play with, for Edith something weird and alien-like, laying there in Lucy's belly and growing larger every day, for Margo, it was just a great opportunity - not for her, personally, but for her father. She knew how it was to raise a toddler, she had been taking care of Agnes when she was a baby.  
But Gru never witnessed the joys of raising a newborn.  
Gru had joined them on the couch, an arm around Lucy and one around Edith and also he listened to her words. What this tiny thing would become eventually, he wondered…Giggling a bit when she mentioned how it either can become a male or a female, Agnes blurted: "I hope it's going to be a girl!" - "A girl? Blewwgh, no, how lame! I want a brother!" Edith answered. "I could do awesome fighting tricks with him!" "And what do you guys want?" Margo asked, looking at Lucy and Gru.  
"Uuhm…" Gru blinked at the redhead.  
"Hmm…" Lucy mumbled back.  
She put a hand over her belly, trying to find an answer.  
"We dunno Margo. As long as it's a wonderful little kid who you will love, I'm happy for giving you a little sibling. I haven't had much experience with children until I met you, and by any implications of how it is to have girls, I wouldn't mind a daughter if she would be half as cool as the three of you."  
Edith grimaced slightly, rolling her eyes. "Noo, I'm sure it's going to be a boy! You know, a cool, small brother, I could teach him how to climb trees and be a cool ninja!" - "You only say that because you 'want' one, hm?" Margo shrugged. She was fine with any of these. Either a baby-brother, or a baby-sister. Gru watched the kids throwing their imaginations of how they would treat their brother or sister, leaning his head against Lucy's and took her hand. She smiled, sighing happily. She was happy she now had become a part of his family. She and this little baby inside her.

...

"Ouch!" Agnes yelped slightly. "Sorry Agnes, I just-grr!" Gru held the brush in his hand, trying to solve the snarl of black hair. "Yu haven't been dryin' yur hair after takin' a shower again, hm?" - "I forgot, sorry Gru."  
Gru carefully ran the comb through her hair, sitting on the edge of the bathtub with her to get her done for bed. Edith and Margo already were in bed, while Agnes always was the last one. But she had the longest hair and she always needed Gru's help when she had to brush her teeth.  
Quickly tying her streaks into the ponytail-form, he put the red braid around it. "So, dhere yu go..."  
Taking the big blue pyjama shirt, he pulled it over her head. "Here we go, all ready for bed."  
"I'm not even tired!" - "Sure yu are." Gru smiled. "Yu're always dhe fastest fallin' asleep." - "But this time I'm not tired! I wanna know more about my little baby-sister."  
"Agnes..." he picked her up. "Yu dun't even know if it's goin' to be a gurl, hm?" - "Hmm..." Agnes hummed, nuzzling against her father's shoulder.  
He carefully dipped her down into her bed, pulling the blanket over her and kissing her forehead. "Goodnight, Agnes..."  
"Wait..." she mumbled, half asleep. Gru tilted his head. "Hm?"  
"Uhm...I wanna say Lucy goodnight too! Can you bring her here?"  
"Oh? Sure." He quickly scooted to the door. "Lucy?" he whispered loudly. "Agnes wanna say goodnight to yu..."  
Lucy heard him calling for her across the hall, and walked silently into the girl's bedroom. So far, she had rarely been in there, seeing it as a sacred place for the small family of four. Now, she felt as if she was being invited into the family, becoming one of them.  
"Huh? You called Gru?" She stepped in to see the father and daughter by the bed. "Oh, of course I'll say goodnight!" She sat herself on her knees in front of the little girl and gave her a hug.  
"Goodnight Lucy."  
"Goodnight sweetheart."  
"Can I wish the baby goodnight too?"  
"Oh, honey, it won't hear. It won't have ears until midsummer." She looked confused, looked away while biting her lip, and then looked up again at Lucy.  
"Could I still? Maybe it'll hear me anyway." Gru couldn't help but smile. Oh Agnes…his little Agnes.  
He stood in the doorframe, observing her with the kids. She said she wouldn't be made to be a mother...he was sure she was. She was, like, the best mother to the kids he had ever seen. Something he couldn't offer them, she was giving them.  
Gru didn't know what it was, yet he could feel the kids have changed. All to good. And so have Lucy - and perhaps he has too.

Breaking out in a grin, Lucy got herself up on her feet and pulled up the shirt."Alright then." The little girl scurried over to the edge of the bed, and pressed her mouth against the lower part of the tummy.  
"Nighty night baby, sleep tight." Lucy stopped herself from giggling, Agnes' voice vibrating against her skin. She kissed the girl's forehead, and moved over to Edith. "Night ninja." A hand reached her cheek. "Night", she mumbled. "Want a hug and a kiss too?" The little blond girl smiled, and Lucy gently leaned over her for a hug. She finally moved over to Margo, who busied herself with sending a text. "Who are you writing to?" - "Oh, just Avery." -"Right. You have to tell me about this Avery someday, still haven't met any of your friends."  
She looked over at Gru, but saw him pout angrily. Apparently it was somebody that Margo really liked – and Gru not so much.  
Hugging and kissing her, Lucy got herself up to leave the room, feeling buzzed and giddy and hyped. Looking up at Gru when she closed the door, she squealed with a muffled voice, trying to be silent.

"They wanted hugs! They treat me like family! I have daughters! Well, not literally, I haven't adopted them yet and I don't know if they would want it or even if you would want me to adopt them but oh my gosh did you see Agnes talk to the baby?" She grabbed Gru's shoulders and shook them slightly and Gru chuckled, holding her elbows to settle her down. "And all of them seems to handle the news rather well! I'm so relieved! Oh, I'm so happy!"  
"I told yu dhey love yu." He smiled at her, leaning his forehead against hers and grinned like a lovesick teenager. "Yes…yes they do." She smiled, and then she cupped his cheeks to kiss him. Gru closed his eyes, smiling lightly and savoring the kiss until she broke away again.  
"Gru, I – I know I'm new to this clan, but – do you think I could become something like a mother to them? And…join your family?" Gru looked deep into her eyes, heart pounding with love and happiness over this entire day and then – he smiled. He smiled and started chuckling and then he giggled in his husky, beautiful voice.  
"But Lucy…yu are already a part of dis family – of our family."  
Lucy sobbed in happiness, tears formed so quickly in her eyes she couldn't keep them away from falling down.  
"Lucy, are yu okay?"  
"Curse these mood-swings…" she sobbed and brushed her tears away. "I'm…I'm just so happy, Gru. I love you so much. You, the girls and…"  
She paused, slowly reaching for his hand to place it upon her belly. "And junior…"

The Ex-villain cupped the bulge with eager hands, his face lit up in a beam. "I love yu too, honey…so much…"  
And then, he knelt down, his hands still holding hers, and he pressed his lips on her enlarged stomach.

"And Daddy loves yu too, my baby…"


	5. Four little Kitten

"You can't be serious!"  
"I have never been more serious in my life Miss Wilde!"  
Lucy got herself up from the table in anger. "It's not that big of a deal Sir! I can totally do it!" The director glared at her and pressed a button to show the next slide in the presentation of Gru's mission. It showed the big mansion, and a picture of the man that was their target.  
"I have no doubt that you could get on the good side of this smuggling league Miss Wilde, that is beside the point. You know the policy, no pregnant agents on the field."  
"It's an infiltration job!"  
"Which could get you kidnapped if they bust your cover! And you know we don't negotiate with villains."  
"Lucy, hon." Gru had his hand rested on her shoulder.

She huffed and sat herself on the table, hands slamming on the edge when her round belly was too large for her to cross her arms over her chest comfortably. Arms shaking in anger, she silently cursed over the situation.

She had found out everything about these people for weeks, she had planned how it was gonna be performed, and now Silas announced that Gru was gonna go undercover, solo.

She was worried and jealous at the same time. She didn't want Gru to be away a day's travel in her last trimester, and she certainly didn't want to miss the action when she had planned this so well.  
But Gru himself wasn't feeling any better.  
A mission, at least 22 hours away from his own little home with his three daughters, ten thousand minions and a pregnant girlfriend in her sixth month, and only he was ordered to solve that case! He alone.  
Gru should feel flattered. But he wasn't at all!

It would be his very first mission without Lucy, just a lame spying job that is, but nevertheless Gru felt quite weird hearing that this case was only determined for him - without Lucy.  
Of course, he wouldn't have let her come with him anyway, even if Silas allowed it - but also he was aware of what will happen with agents which were debunked, and if these particular agents were with child, the entire situation would only become even more dicey.  
Lucy huffed and grumbled all along through Silas presentation, and Gru took her hand.  
"Lucy, Silas is completely right - If dhey'll hijack yu, not only yu'll be in danger, but also dhe baby!"  
Strange enough it felt he once was agreeing with his boss, but he could understand her frustration - although he wouldn't indulge and try to convince Silas to let her accompany him. Sighing, he faced his boss once more.  
"It's fine, I'll take dhe mission." He looked briefly back to Lucy. "I'll stay in dhe field and return home after two or three days, only a couple of days and return dhen."  
"Don't worry, Mister Gru..." Silas stirred his teacup. "I'll make sure you'll stay in the active service just for some months, about three or four, and you'll have the opportunity to return home every weekend. So you'll be able to support Miss Wilde to the date the child is born."  
"A'right, very good." Gru nodded.

Very good? No, nothing was good! Lucy was fuming!  
She wanted some support, or at least being allowed to tag along! Not... not being caged up and continue doing all the boring stuff on the computer. Hearing Silas informing Gru about the conditions just made her madder, as if they were ready to move on from the argument and ignore her wishes. Not saying another word, she puffed, jumped of the table and marched out, slamming the door loudly when exiting the room. She could be ignored in the comfort of her own office.  
"Lucy, vait, vhere are yu –"  
But she was already gone.  
"Oh my", Silas said and put the cup of tea down. "I always knew she was impatient, but I can't let her out there in her state. You do understand that Mr Gru? Her situation is especially sensitive and would put everyone in jeopardy, you in particular." Silas put the cup down at the table, sorting through the papers.  
He knew how it was to have a wife, even though he never has had the pleasure of them expecting a child of their own. But he knew agents who had wanted to do missions while having their families growing, and it had never ended well.  
"Of course, of course I du!" he nodded quickly, biting his lower lip. He didn't want her to get hurt, nor get kidnapped, and he even didn't want the AVL to come to harm in any form.  
Anyhow, he was just glad he would let Gru return home during a short time being on that mission.  
A long section of silence filled the room, and Gru started to clear his throat in awkwardness.

"I-uhm, I shall go and try to calm her down again." he suggested and rose up. "How about yu'll send me dhe rest of dhe information and I'll have a glance at it at home...?"  
"Hold on Mr Gru!" Silas got his papers together and grose from the table. Handing the papers to the other man, he cleared his throat, looking for words. "I feel I need to talk to you about something. It's about Miss Wilde."  
Gru accepted the paper, casting a brief glance at it and turning back to Silas.  
"I need you to understand that I care about her as if she was my own niece or daughter, and I care about her well being. I see that she happy with you, and I respect that. I don't understand it, but I respect it. What my concern is, why haven't you made a respectable lady out of her yet? She is carrying your child, that is a huge honor. Shouldn't you repay that by asking for her hand?" He really didn't like to ask these kinds of personal questions, but it had bothered him. No ring, she hadn't mentioned even if Gru had popped the question, and she was getting bigger and bigger, it was soon time.

He-_really_ didn't want to talk with him about personal stuff, especially not if it was about him and Lucy, for he knew Silas would only see more and more of his bad attitude and character. But in this case, also Gru's cramped expression softened up a little bit.  
"Yu probably wun't believe it..." he said and shrugged, already turning slightly to head to the door. "But I _have_ proposed to her, some months ago and she said no. She wanted to wait until dhe baby was born..." Gru knew Silas only would want the best for Lucy, so did he. But it was the truth.

"Look, Ramsbottom - I can imagine yu want to make sure Lucy'll be a'right, and she will, trust me - I'll make sure she'll be jus' fine!  
I'll make her a respectable lady a'right, but dat is not and never was yur concern, thanks anyway for yur input...!" And with that, he turned around, heading to the door.  
"Mr Gru!" Silas shouted and followed him. Gru stopped and looked over his shoulder at the elder man. "I didn't know about Lucy refusing your proposal. Is it something you would like me to talk to her about?" Gru made a face like his boss just told him the worst joke in the world. "If it's that she misses her parents, I would gladly walk her down the aisle." He placed his hand on the door to let them both out. "I'll probably come and visit her during the weeks just to check on her while you're gone, if you would give me the blessing to visit your house."  
"Silas, _ugh_-" he shook his head. Well, once in a while this man does seem to want only the best for this extraordinary couple.  
"It's appreciated - but I dun't need yu to talk to her about dis, it is settled."  
Hearing his offer to accompany her down the aisle and help along while he was on that mission.  
"Well, if yu want to help Lucy while I'm off - dhen I'd be grateful. All I want yu to du is stayin' outta my family-business, a'right? Nothin' more! I know yu kinda...see it as yur duty to worry about her, but from now on, dat is _**my**_ duty!"  
Silas struggled with words, but then, understandingly, he nodded briefly.  
"Good – thanks! I'll tell Lucy yu'll take care of things while I'm busy..."

Carefully knocking against the door of her office, he waited a couple of seconds. "Lucy? Lucy, can i come inside? Please, we need to talk, okay?"  
Lucy looked up when hearing the knocking on her door. She was still mad, but had calmed down a bit. She knew of the AVL policy, she had signed the contract both when she got hired and once again when she told the medical department that she was going to carry the child to term. Feeling a flutter in her stomach, she put her hand over her belly and stroked, sitting on top of her desk. The baby got stressed by her yelling and sudden running, she couldn't blame it. It normally started to move whenever she was bored and lied down, or when she was in an argument of some kind, like last week when she had argued with Gru's mother about not wanting a second helping of the dinner.

"It's alright Gru, you can come in!" she sighed.  
Gru opened the door to look inside. Lucy sat on the desk, holding her belly, and he wondered if she felt fine, she hasn't been moving that fast with carrying the baby...  
"Yu okay?" He asked and closed the door behind them.  
"Yes…just…junior is a bit startled from my running." She motioned him to come hither and Gru approached her. Lucy took his hand and placed it on her belly.

"Look, uh- I have been talkin' to Silas, and he said I really culdn't let yu come vith me, it's simply too dangerous for yu." Gru looked into her eyes and then down at her already large belly. He really couldn't make an exception this time, he recalled how their mission was with spying out Eduardo, the devilish chicken, the kidnapping, the purple minions - just no! She saw him shift his gaze from her eyes to her belly – and she felt better suddenly, the frustration began to fade. He was so fascinated by the growth, it was heartwarming – but it cost a lot of effort to live with it – and find clothes she could wear. Her plan was to take the girls to the mall this weekend and buy clothes for her while preparing their wardrobes for school, having some girl-on-girl bonding, but now that their father was going to be away now, she felt discouraged. Gru leaned down to kiss her forehead with love and tenderness, and Lucy sighed contentedly.  
"While I'm gone, Silas will take care of yu occasionally. Dun't worry, I trust him enough to take over my part." - "That would be nice…" she said with a smile. "Without the company of an adult, I'd go stir crazy!"  
A chuckle escaped their lips while they leaned forehead against forehead, and his hands continued holding her belly, making slow and stroking patterns, and not only the baby but also Lucy started to relax more and more by his gentleness.

"If yu want me to stay, I can drop dhe offer, yu know? I'm not keen to go on any missions vithout yu anyway..."  
"No. I don't want you to drop it Gru, we really need someone that can keep their head cool, and you know your way around villains. We have the phone and you'll be home at weekends, we just have to make the very best of those days until you wrap the case up." She sighed.  
"I knew I would have to stay in while having this baby, I just wasn't prepared that it would get so_ looooong_." She groaned in frustration and flinched when the baby kicked her in her bladder. "And now Junior is upset as well…_ouch!_"  
"D'aw." He chuckled softly and patted his palm on her belly, stroking gently. "Hey dhere, we're not kickin' Mommy, hm?" Gru spoke quietly to the baby. It was beginning to move and twitch inside again and Gru was always glad to capture these moments the unborn was active. He felt it gently kicking in his palm and he cracked a smile. "Well, switchin' over to kickin' Daddy, hm...?"

Lucy laughed. Oh, he was just so sweet and cute and…she just loved these moments of father and bay bonding. He grinned at Lucy through his own frustration. They had planned some things together, as a family, and now that Gru was called to go all alone on a bloody spyjob, he had wished sincerely Silas had picked someone else than him. He wanted to be with them every day, playing with his daughters, telling them how their life with a baby will be, he wanted to stay with Lucy and comfort her when she felt down, and watch how their child was growing...and now he only would be able to see them during the weekends! That sucks!

But if Lucy wanted him to get that case done, he shall obey then.

"Okay, hon. I'll try and hurry to get home a bit earlier I promise." He kissed her nose tip. "If anythin' is wrong or if yu need anybody quickly, yu also still have doctor Nefario and dhe minions. Dun't worry, I taught dhem how to treat a pregnant lady." Lucy nodded with a smirk.  
"Don't worry about me Gru, the worst thing that will happen is that I feel like watching a horror movie, or I get _horny_. I'm just whining, you know that." She smiled towards him. "The munchkins are helpful, but I can't be close to them, you know that. The sweet scent of bananas, _ugh_. And I'll take care of the girls. Good it's summer holiday, I wouldn't manage to give them breakfast and get them to school alone."  
"Well, let dat be my task." He said, and she nodded again, still feeling frustrated – but he just managed to sooth her again.

...

Later that day, Agnes, Edith and Margo have gathered around Lucy, sitting on the table and waiting for their father to get dinner done. Agnes of course sat right next to Lucy, constantly talking to the baby and giggling when she felt it moving inside her.  
"She answered me!" she cheered. "I think she heard me, Lucy!"  
"_He_, Agnes! It's a _he!_"  
"No, it's a baby-sister, Edith!" Agnes pouted at the bigger girl.  
"It's going to be a baby-sister, right, Lucy?" she looked back at the redhead with big eyes.  
"Sweetheart, Gru and I decided we want it to be a surprise, so we asked them not to tell us. We'll see when the baby arrives." Lucy explained patiently to her.  
"But how are we gonna give it a name?"  
"Agnes", Margo interrupted carefully. "Maybe Gru and Lucy should pick the name for themselves? It's their baby." Lucy blinked and looked over to Gru being in the kitchen and making dinner. She honestly hadn't been thinking about names by now…  
Maybe Gru has?  
"Well, firstly, we'll give him or her the last name Wilde Gru."  
"That sounds dirty", Edith mumbled with a smug grin and Margo burst out in laughter.  
"Oh, stop it you two! But we don't know the first name yet."  
"I'd like Fluffy."  
"They're not gonna name their baby after your unicorn! I'd vote for Rufus!" Edith said.  
"Margo, what do you think?" Lucy looked over at the oldest girl.  
"I told you, it's not for us to decide. Lucy?"  
"I have to think about it, alright? It's another four months yet."

Gru listened to his daughters talk from the other side of the room, but didn't offer them a glance. He was way into pounding about everything, his mission, the stress and especially the time he will stay alone without the kids and his Lucy around him. He was glad they didn't question him about the open suitcase lying in front of the bedroom, but this evening, he eventually had to tell them. It always was hard for him leaving his kids like that, but Lucy was there to take care of them.

"A'right, here we go, Agnes, sit down, it's time for dinner."  
Gru carried the plates back to the table, and sat down next to Edith.  
The three girls' eyes widened as they saw their father did the _"forbidden meal"_ for them - rice pudding! They have begged him almost daily, they wanted at least once to have rice pudding with cinnamon for dinner, but because Gru was sure that pancakes for breakfast were enough sugar for three kids in one day, he always denied it - also he hated the scent of anything that was warm and sugary.  
"Any special occasion?" Margo glanced at her father, pointing at her bowl.  
"You know, you never made this for us!"  
"Hmm..." Gru mumbled, looking from Margo to Lucy and back to Margo.  
"Well-yeah, so to say." he shrugged. "Uhm, gurls - I'll be on a mission for dhe next months...and I'll probably only have time for yu guys at dhe weekend."  
"_Next month_s?!" Agnes stared at him. "Bu-but then you won't be there when Fluffy arrives."  
" 'Rufus'..." corrected Edith quietly and rolled her eyes.  
"No, no, dun't worry - dhe mission goes about half a year, but I'll be back in three months – just in time vhen…uhm…Fluffy, Rufus, vhatever, will be born."  
"But-But…" Agnes complained. "Listen to your father guys, he's only gonna be gone for the week days! And he'll be just a days drive from here, if something happens, he'll be here." - "Who will tuck us in?" Agnes asked. "Well, I will." - "Who will make us breakfast?" - "I will."  
"Really?" Margo asked with laughter stuck in her throat. She rolled her eyes.  
"Fine, we'll fix something together, I trust in you and I hope you trust in me." She was useless at cooking, but she could sure learn at least how to make spaghetti.  
"Guys, come on – Lucy will du an awesome job and will take care of yu jus' a'right! IF yu guys stay good and wun't make it any more difficult for her."  
They all nodded, smiling encouragingly towards Lucy, who stroked her belly softly.

"And when will you have to go?" asked the smallest.  
"Uhm-tomorrow, sweetheart."  
"Tomorrow?!" She blurted. "Why tomorrow! Can't you go on Monday? Or tuesday? At least stay the weekend, please." a bit helpless she looked to Lucy. "Can't he stay the weekend?"  
"No, honey...but hey, we'll see each odher on Friday again, okay?"  
"Can you...before you go can you at least then tell us a bedtime story?"  
Edith, Agnes and Margo looked up to Lucy. "Both of you?" Lucy blinked in surprise. She? Both of them? Well, she needed to start doing this kind of stuff the next day anyway, so, she nodded with a big smile. "Yes! Of course we can!"  
Lucy got up quickly, but the weight of her belly made her weak on her legs for a second and Gru had to catch her, among the happy cheering of the girls running upstairs.  
"Yu okay?"  
"Yes, I'm okay…" she held her belly and clung to her boyfriend. "E-Excuse me, I was a bit overexcited."  
"Hehe. Well, yu gotta really promise me to keep things a bit slower now vhile I'm in Italy, a'right?" – "Alright…"

...

Once upstairs, Gru was pleasantly surprised the kids were fully dressed and ready for bed-time, as they watched Gru helping Lucy a bit with climbing the stairs. "Is it really that heavy…?" Agnes asked Lucy as she walked next to her. "Well, Agnes, I am carrying a baby inside me…they usually aren't as light and small as a feather." And then she suddenly had an idea of how to start the bonding with them.  
"Ohh…I've got an idea – you guys perhaps wanna go to the mall tomorrow? You can choose new clothes and some larger ones for me?"  
"Yaaay! The Mall!" Agnes cheered. "I can throw pennies in the fountains again!"  
"And I can go dive for pennies!" Edith pulled out her swimmgoggles from her pocket.  
However, Margo gulped. She sincerely hoped she wouldn't meet a certain mexican boy there again. She was done with Antonio - certainly done.  
"We'll have something fun to do every day until your dad gets home and then we'll use all weekends on spending time together! And before you know it, he's home, school has started again and we're closing in on you all becoming big sisters!" Putting a hand on Agnes, she smiled towards them.  
"I'll be there, alright? I know I'm not really your mom, but I can take care of you. And if I can't Margo tells me how, right?"  
She nodded as Lucy asked her to help her how to become a proper mom to them.  
Gru was relieved they were going to come along without him - seeing them happy together with Lucy was making him just happy.

"A'right, gurls, go brush yur teeth and we'll get started vith dhe story, okay?"  
They nodded and vanished in the bathroom and while they were getting ready for bed, Gru grabbed some pillows he'd use to sit on while reading, and got some more so Lucy will have a comfortable seat next to him.  
"Dhere we go-yu wanna start or me?" he asked her while helping her sitting down.  
"Oh…you start. You're a way better story-reader than I am, after all."  
"Heh…very well dhen."  
The gang gathered around finally, al sitting in their own little beds.  
"So…vhat du yu guys wanna hear?"  
"Three sleepy kittens!"  
"No we've heard it enough already!"  
"And besides Agnes, it's a bit outdated, dun't yu think?"  
"How about what happened next?" Lucy joined his idea.  
"What do you mean?" Margo asked.  
"Like, when the unicorn met his unicorn lady?"  
"We don't have a story like that", Edith complained.  
"But maybe Gru can make it up?"  
Lucy looked at him with a smile. And he nodded, trying to find out what he could tell them…

_"A small happy family, vith the number of four, thought dhey culd never wish for more  
Dhe three leetle kitten and their unicorn dad, dhey build dhe family neidher of dhem ever had._  
_Dhey laughed, dhey cried, but dhey were happy togedher, for dhe family of four wuld stay a family forever._  
_But dhe unicorn met a quirky pegasi, and she took him on an adventure so high!  
It made him laugh - it made him cry - but in dhe end, he will never said goodbye."  
_  
Suddenly, Lucy grabbed his hand and continued:

_"They had big rows, they made amends, their affection for each other had no ends.  
So when the two was having a fourth little kitten, they all got very smitten."_

The girls were listening, all tugged inside their blankets. Agnes could barely hold her eyes open.  
"Wouldn't they have a foal?" She asked while Lucy crawled up to her to kiss her goodnight.  
"No, because the fourth kitten is in no way different or more special than the three kittens the unicorn and pegasi already have and love", Lucy said and planted a soft kiss on the girl's forehead.

_"Well, the fourth leetle kitten was for some an intruder, and so one of the kittens may have become a bit ruder..."_

He looked to Edith and offered an understanding smile.

_"The love dhe big unicorn only offered dhem, the fear they'd lose it to dhe new kitten scared dhem. But dhe unicorns love, it wuld never fall apart, to dhe now four leetle kittens..."_

"Who changed his heart..." Mumbled Agnes and smiled widely before her eyes shut tight into a deep sleep. As Gru looked into the beds, his kittens were already asleep, tired and exhausted from the day.  
Giving each of them a lovingly kiss on the forehead, he stopped at Edith's bed for a second and whispered softly: "I love yu, Edith..."  
Turning back to Lucy, he helped her up. "Good job..." He chuckled. "Yu shuld see me, vhen I try and improvise stories...I totally suck at it."  
"Nah, you did totally fine!", Lucy reassured, kissing the tip of his nose once he had helped her up. "Come, let's go to sleep so we can get up early tomorrow." She walked out of the room and shut the lights, while he followed her, taking off his coat and his shoes on his way. Smiling, she looked over her shoulder. "You think the baby would like to have that story as a book as well?"  
"Well, yes, certainly." He grinned, remembering how he had spent the entire night to fix up the small book he had made for the girls. But he was glad their little poem was just short enough to put it into a little book. He got dressed for the night, a long white shirt with his usual pyjama pants. " I shuld put dat story in a book as soon as I'm back from dat mission."

"That would be nice…" Lucy brushed off her jacket and her pants and grabbed Gru by the hem of his shirt and with a coy smile, she dragged him to the bed.  
"You know…I'm gonna miss you a lot."  
"I'll miss yu too…" he said with a smile.  
She lied down on the sheets and rolled on her side, still looking at him.  
"You'll call me, right?"  
"Mhm!" Gru nodded while carefully climbing into the bed behind her, spooning her once again, arms loo.  
"If I'm not at that mission, at least this pregnant, worried lady deserves to know."  
"Yyyup." He mumbled. "But dherefore…" Gru placed his hand on her belly, gently caressing it. "Yu'll keep me updated on junior, a'right?"  
"Heh…of course…"  
Silence filled the room once again, and Gru counted Lucy's breaths, watched as her body lifted the blanket up just a notch whenever she breathed, his hands still caressing the big bulge with love and affection – and every time he felt a kick, he smiled and buried his face into her hair.  
"I'm scared…" he admitted.  
"Honey – why are you scared?"  
"...Well...I have been dhe fadher of three gurls - vhat if I'll suck at raisin' a baby?"  
Lucy turned around to face him and she cupped his cheeks.  
"Gru...you're a wonderful father. You're the coolest and most fun dad I know. The baby will love you."  
"And vhat if not...?"  
Lucy opened her mouth to speak. But she didn't find any words to respond.  
"Lucy, I have been a horrible human bein' to my daughters - I culdn't live vith dhe fact dat my own child wuld hate me for vhat I was...Vhat if I can't love my own baby?"  
The redhead stared at him. All the time, she herself had been scared she'd be a horrible mother and that the baby wouldn't love her. Somewhat, she never asked herself if not Gru ever had anxieties.  
With a smile, she kissed him and snuggled up to him.  
"Sweetheart - what you have been is in the past. What you are now is a man who loves his family and is going to be a Dad. I know it's creepy and weird and you'll be scared - but as soon as you'll see your baby, you'll love it and you'll protect it, hold it - and never let it go again."

Gru smiled. Hugging his lovely girlfriend and cuddling her and kissing her face with tenderness.  
"Thank yu..."


	6. Goodbye Ritual

_**[ Warning: Highly Mature-Rated at the beginning! Skip it or whip it! ]**_

* * *

The next morning Gru woke up, as always, quite early. His sleeping disorders were actually an advantage someday, but today he felt like he just wanted to turn around and sleep the whole day. He knew he had to be ready for the mission, and as always, Silas finds extremely important to see every Agent being as punctual as he could.  
Looking at the watch, he let out a dull sigh, turning around again and dozing off again. Six in the morning was way too early for him.  
But the sleep didn't last long, he felt somebody moving next to him. Moving quite rapidly, and after a while he figured out it was Lucy who rolled around in her bed. And then she suddenly moaned in pain.  
"Hmmph...Lucy?" he muttered. "Lucy…are yu okay?"  
"Hnng!" Was her answer. And Gru was up instantly.  
"Lucy?! Are yu okay?!"  
"Gru, uh…" she looked at him with knitted eyebrows. "No…my breasts hurt." She finally rolled on her back and sat up, her hands holding her belly and her chest. "And junior just won't stop kicking me." She sighed, looking over at Gru, whose expressions softened again. "The baby kept me awake for hours…"  
Gru rolled to her side and placed his hand on her belly, and was instantly greeted with a rapidly moving baby inside the big bulge. It kicked every five seconds, and it kicked quite hard.  
"Wow…looks like somebody is wide awake inside dhere."  
"It hurts, Gru. And I'm tired…"  
"Aww….c'mere." he looped his arm around her to pull her close. He had read about women complaining about their breasts hurting when they started to produce milk for the baby.

Lucy nuzzled her face into his chest and sighed, relaxing a bit when he caressed her belly. The baby continued kicking – but whenever he was just holding and stroking her belly, it felt like the baby was settling down a bit. "Ugh, I so wish this pregnancy is over…"  
"I know…" he said comfortingly.  
"How am I just going to survive this until you're back?"  
"Dun't worry…dhe kids will help yu."  
"But they are not…you. I know, I love them ad I appreciate their help, but – we'll just miss your cooking. I'll miss my boyfriend next to me in the bed. Junior will miss their Daddy, and so will the kids…"  
Gru tenderly kissed her forehead and rocked gently back and forth with her in his arms. "Shh…it'll be jus' five days, dhen I'll be back again for dhe weekend."  
Lucy sighed. Inside, she didn't want him to leave. He was taking care of things for her and he seemed so much better in everything; the household, parenting, keeping everything in order – and now she had to do all this stuff alone – heavy with child. But he had a duty to fulfill and she wouldn't keep him away from it.  
After a while, Lucy again had the power to smile. She felt safe and cozy in his arms – and she was glad that she still would have him for the next four hours before he would leave at ten.

"Hon…?"  
"Hm?"  
"Could you…perhaps give me a massage?"  
"Of course, sweetie." Gru let go of her, but – he was a bit surprised when Lucy suddenly jerked her shirt up to reveal her mightily swollen breasts for him. _Oh, boy!_  
Ever since she was pregnant, he couldn't really remember what size they have been before – but he was sure they weren't that big before.  
"Heh… remember? I told you they become bigger when I'm pregnant."  
"U-uh…Uh-huh!" he nodded, slightly mezmerised. But then, he shook his head, gulped, and carefully placed his hands on her to knead them carefully in his hands.  
_Dear lord_, not a good timing to get flustered. But he couldn't help it – Her skin was so soft and they were so beautiful. He would never get tired of touching them – never.  
Lucy closed her eyes and gave a contented hum, as she leaned against the pillows again.  
While helping her along with getting rid of the pain, he looked down her naked form. The light of the dawn almost didn't even break through the windows, yet he saw how soft her skin was and how beautiful she looked with her open, red-curly hair and her big belly…  
Thinking about how much bigger it would grow the next few months – and he would only see and feel it in the weekends – was giving him a flinch in the pit of his stomach and he heard Lucy beneath him suddenly moan softly. But not in pain – but in pleasure.

Hotness formed inside his throat and his chest and his guts and in between his thighs but for now, he ignored it.  
"D-Does dat feel good?" - "Oh yes…" she nodded, her eyes closed and a smile on her face. "This is really…good."  
A crooked smile appeared on his face. Suddenly, a flinch. Lucy had his hands placed on his thighs, rubbing over his muscles. Up to the base of his hips; ad all down his legs lengths, coming closer and closer to his certain…very sensitive spot.  
And suddenly, Gru cracked very big smirk.

"Well…let's make dis even better, shall we?"

Suddenly, he was leaning down to her, giving her a long and deep kiss and Lucy gasped slightly before kissing him back. They shared some more encounters of their lips, before she watched his lowering down, his lips finding her jawline, her neck, her collarbones…  
"Oh…! Gru…!" she gasped again as soon as his lips where brushing the sensitive skin of her tensed breasts.  
"G-Gru, w-wait! If we're gonna have some horizontal tango now, you won't …you won't… have time to make breakfast for the girls."  
Gru didn't answer. His hands still cupped her breasts, his lips kissing and pampering them like they were some two treasures and Lucy stopped denying that she loved it. Heck with that, she thought.  
Contradicting her complain, she grabbed Gru's smooth head with her hands, holding him tight against her, drawing her nails over his neck in some slow and teasing patterns and Gru laughed, not because he was ticklish, but by how it was turning him on. The tension and pain of her breasts was gone, and all she concentrated about was how smoothly he was rubbing and caressing her breasts and nipples until they were hard. She gave a sharp breath.

"Gru…"  
"Hmm?" he looked up at her, lips never leaving her body. "D-Do-Don't…"  
For a moment she looked down into his eyes. These beautiful, blue, bright eyes she loved so much and fell for the first time he had seen them. They were dilated. No going back from there, huh? He really wanted to continue. So, she smiled rubbing her nails over his shoulderblades, drawing him close to her lips and kissed him deeply. Biting and drawing their tongues over their lower lips, they granted entrance to meet halfway and both moaned in delight. "D-Don't…Don't stop…" she finally managed to end her sentence. And Gru grinned at her. A long while, both were kissing, caressing, she shoved his shirt up and his pants down and he did the same with hers, lips going back to get attached to her breasts. He parted them, his hot tongue trailing over her skin, Lucy almost jerked and gasped loudly. "W-woow…"  
"Heh…dun't worry, yu'll have dhe pleasure a few more times in future." He assured her.  
That was the moment Lucy's eyes went back to him in an excited glint. A heavy force pressured him off her, back onto the sheets.

"Umph!" he gasped, heaviness settling down on his lower body. And moments later, he saw Lucy sitting on top of him, her hands on top of his chest, her belly grazing his bellybutton – and her eyes looking deep into his with a grin. "Then I guess I have to pay you back for this…" she was digging her nails into his skin and he hissed in pleasure.  
"O-Oh yes…?" he asked, half excited, half flustered.  
He got his answer right away. Lucy moved her hips against him, grinding him where the heat grew on his body. He jerked up, but the sensation took control over him. She knew he loved this part of the foreplay. It made him anticipated. Longing for her even more. She may didn't know anything about him – but this was something she knew by heart. With a long, low moan, he pressed his head back into the pillows.  
"L-Lucy…"

Lucy smiled at him while she continued to rub her naked self against his hips. If there was one thing he loved the most about having these intimate moments with him was definitely how genuinely he sounded when she was giving him pleasure. Not out of winning confidence over how she knew how much power she could have over him – but how much of a confirmation this was to her. It confirmed how much he loved this with her. How much she could get to his cores. Despite the big belly being in her way, she managed to lean in and kissed his face. His tightly shut eyelids, his, his temples slightly tensed, the corner of his mouth, and she moaned pleased over him growing and becoming firmer with each rub against her pubic bone.  
"I love you…" she moaned into his ear, nibbling on his earlobe. Gru squirmed beneath her in pleasure.  
"A-Ah, _Lucy_ –" he managed to huff before he opened his eyes to look at her. A pang went through their hearts as they saw the raw lust in each other's widened pupils and Gru was mesmerized by how bright her green pools could be.  
The moment of panting, teasing and holding onto each other was magical.

It took him a while to recognize it, but his hands held her belly like it was made out of pure gold, caressed its sides, its perfect roundness…and helped her along with moving her against his crotch. And however it happened – both suddenly smiled at each other. Lucy was having her mouth parted, smiling, while lusty moans escaped her throat whenever she was pressed against his member and also he huffed and sighed and listened to both their panting in anticipation. She was so beautiful, he couldn't get over the fact that she was right here in this very bed with him, naked and with child – his child. She was his, and he wondered how this miracle has happened. Gru's hands roamed all over her body like he was checking if this was for real.  
"You – you looking for something?" Lucy giggled, but she bent her back to arch her breasts In his direction.  
Gru looked up at her, still breathing heavily and eagerly reaching for her breasts to massage them.  
"N-No…no need. I already found it…"  
"My boobs?" she joked.  
"No…dhe reason of my happiness. And dhe reason of my love…"  
"Oh?" Lucy bit her lips playfully, running her hand down his chest and his belly-muscles to reach his burning loins.  
"I wonder what it is…"  
"_She_…" he corrected.  
Gru looked back at her, and suddenly, he propped himself up until he was sitting, keeping Lucy straddled on his lap and his arms around her hips, inches apart from her lips.  
"And _she's_ sittin' on my…well…" he lowered his glance to both of their lower parts being pressed against each other and then back at her with a playfully cocked eyebrow. Lucy laughed at that.

"Poor thing." She teased and reached her hand over the bulge of her belly, between his and her tummy and down to grab him and stroking him gently.  
"Time to give him some love as well, hm?"  
Gru have a shaky breath at the touch. His forehead pressed against hers, his arms tightening around her hips, he let her caress him, running her had up and down on him.  
With each time her tiny, thin fingers were straining his flesh, he gave a growl deep inside his chest. This felt just so good…  
And Lucy smiled knowingly. It was a shame they were going to be separated from each other this long time – they wouldn't be able to do this.  
His hands dug inside the firm muscles of her buttocks.  
"Lucy…_please_…" he begged with a whimper, after a while of her hand pumping up and down on him in smooth, flowing patterns and she could feel him being already flustered to no end.  
"Please what, hm?" she whispered in his ear. Yet before she could expect an answer, her hips were suddenly lifted, and just moments later, she felt her inner walls being filled by him.  
She threw her head back with a loud gasp and then delighted moans followed, hands clinging to his neck. He slowly moved her down on him until he was fully buried by her hotness, and he let out a rumbled growl against her shoulder.

"A-Ahh, wow…" she still panted. "I-I didn't expect that."  
"D-dis neidher?" he asked as his hands on her backside lifted her up just a notch, only to press her down again. She moaned in the sudden sweet intensity.  
"N-No…this neither…"  
She continued his shown movements on him and they went lost in the passion of their lovemaking. It was slightly more difficult with the added weight of her belly, but Gru helped her along, placing his hand right beneath her form and lifted and sunk her down on him. Oh, she'd miss this. Lucy was pressing her knees in the sheets and holding onto her lover for leverage, while Gru dug his free hand in the bed beneath him, his other hand holding her, guiding her up and down, sucking and nibbling on the skin of her throat and her earlobe. Both were moaning and breathing in ragged patterns, whispering intimate words of love and occasionally their names, before the tension became frantic and Lucy snapped with a loud groan. Moments later, Gru was blinded by pleasure as his hips bucked up in a rapid movement, pouring his soul out with a releasing, pleased groan.

Lucy hugged him for dear life, listening to the beautiful sound of his release and the following panting and ragged breaths of both of them as they came down from their highs.  
And then moments later, both were lying down on the sheets again, Lucy resting her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat, while Gru looped his arms around her.  
Suddenly, Lucy burst out in laughter.  
"The baby fell asleep", she giggled. "No way...!" Gru grinned widely as Lucy started to laugh. He put his free hand on her stomach, but didn't feel any sudden kicking or twitching inside anymore. A hand ran over her face while she laughed, grunting uncharmingly in the process. She was still blown away with what they had just done, how it had felt. Finding his hand, she grabbed it carefully, kissing his knuckles. "That, was amazing. I'm gonna miss you, and the baby too. Nothing puts Junior to sleep like you", she whispered, looking up at his face.  
A chuckle escaped the man's lips as he leaned in to kiss her beloved, to just rest there, listening to her heartbeat slamming through her body, hands holding onto her belly and caressing its surface. It was the prettiest baby belly he had seen among pregnant women.  
He looked up for a second and back at her, smiling. "I'll miss yu both too..." He whispered back, leaning back to her belly and places kisses all over it, making Lucy giggle.

Gru kissed her belly button, rubbing his palms gently over the bulge.  
"By dhe way..." He mumbled. "Have yu thought about a name already...?"  
"Huh?" She mumbled "Oh, well… I've been thinking of some", she confessed. She crawled up so she was sitting against the wall of the bed, still plenty of space for him to rest his head on her.  
"I want something that matches the girls…You know, they have old fashioned names, so not something too modern. Also…" She stroke his head while talking. Gru continued kissing her roundness, but listened  
"We still don't know what gender it is, right? So I was thinking…how about we choose a pretty name that fits both genders?" Gru glanced up at her. That was a clever way of thinking, actually! He had been just choosing female or male names so far, but neutral names – he wasn't even thinking about that. Looking up in the ceiling, she tried to remember all the tabs she had at the computer at the AVL, browsing during her lunch breaks.  
"Gurin was one I found, but… Gurin Wilde Gru might be a tad too weird, even for us. Charlie, both with an -ie or a -y, Robin, Morgan, Andy, or Gaby are the one's popping to my head right now… What do you think? " Putting a hand over his, she caressed her stomach. Gru pondered.  
"Hmm, I du like Robin..." Gru said, looking up at her to see if she was agreeing with her. "Yu know, it's...a cool name for a boy, and a cute one for a gurl..." Gru tilted his head, smiling. "It's up to yu, hon..."  
"Well…" she looked down at her baby-belly.

"Yes, you're right!" She grew silent for a few moments. "Robin, Robin... Robin." She tasted on the name. It rolled well on her tongue. "This is our kids; Margo, Edith, Agnes and Robin. Yeah, it works!" She clapped her hands together in excitement. "Oh Gru, we have a name for the baby! And such a wonderful one!" she cheered and reached for him to give him a hug. Still having her belly in her way, Gru moved to her side and hugged her tightly, nuzzling his face against hers. "Yes…" he said with a happy sigh.  
"We've gotta tell the kids when they get up!" Reminding herself of the children, she looked over at the watch.  
"Oh _shoot_", she gasped, realizing the time. "Gru, We really need to shower, you should be out the door soon if you want to check in on the hotel in time." Crawling out of his arms, she got herself up to put on a morning gown and get ready for the morning. "Come on, you can't drive while being a wet mess down there."  
Giving an upset growl as Lucy scrambled out of his hug to get dressed, he decided to play along the little stubborn boy and nestled himself back in the sheets. "Relax..." he mumbled. "I still have plenty of time..."  
But as he looked at the watch himself, he rolled his eyes and got dressed, at least put on his underwear to walk to the bathroom, with Lucy walking behind him.

"If i think twice about dis..." he mumbled to himself as he joined her in the bathroom. "I'd radher stay here vith yu and dhe kids."  
"And if you think about it twice, you know that any assignment that takes too long will put the entire planet in danger. You want to protect your daughters, this is a great way to do it." She smacked his bum playfully, getting him into the bathtub and Gru cringed and offered her some slight huffy expressions, but with a loud: _"Hmph!"_ he took off his underwear and stepped inside the shower, with her following him.  
She pulled the gown off and stepped in with him, and started the warm water. Pouring over her back with the direct stream, she started to apply shampoo to her hair and hummed pleased over the heat washing over her while Gru washed down the tiredness in his bones and their mixed sweat from the previous heated moments.

"Look, jus'-" he broke the silence.  
"If anythin' shuld happen - Silas offered to look after yu once in a while, but if yu need my help, like...yu know, if dhe baby comes, I'll hurry as much as i can to get to yu, a'right?"  
"Yes, honey, if anything happens, I'd let you know. I let Silas visit if it makes you calmer, but the girls are smart, they know how to call for an ambulance if it would be needed." Splashing some soap on her hands, she tapped his shoulders to make him turn around, washing his back. "You will be home before it's time Gru, don't worry about it. I won't be giving birth to Robin before you're home."  
"Y-yeah, sure, jus'..." Gru sighed, but her hands running over his back made him relax a little. "I du trust dhe gurls dat if anythin' happens dhey'll take care of dhe ambulance and vhatnot, uh -but I myself wanna make sure yu're fine. I wanna be dhere for yu if dhe baby arrives..."  
"Of course honey, of course. And you WILL be there when the baby arrives; we'll make sure of it." He nodded, grabbing the bottle of shaving foam before cleaning his face from any nasty black stubbles.  
"If the mission drags on and you're still there when the due date arrives, I'm gonna hijack the AVL office until they send you home, water breaking or not." She broke out in a smile, hoping he understood she was messing with his head.  
Seeing him turning around with a quite startled face made her laugh even more, but she placed her hands on his shoulder and kissed the spot on his cheek that wasn't covered in foam.

"Hehe, heh... Heh. Hey, it's alright being protective of your family, but trust me, I'm made of tough material, just look at this belly, that takes some strength to pull off. I handle this." And she was glad when she saw him nod and smile, before they turned on the water to rinse the soap off their bodies.  
"I know, Lucy. I know. Well, yu know dhe morning rituals for dhe kids. Dhey'll show yu how to make pancakes, jus' give dhem some lunchmoney and make sure Edit go to school. She...often skips school." he growled slightly. She was about to interrupt him when he mentioned Edith dropping school, but he was on a roll so she let him finish. He had never told her that.  
"Margo needs to attend some orthodontist- appointments, if dhe doc asks yu to start gettin' brackets on her teeth, jus' say we'll wait for dat until I'll be back...uh, oh yeah and dun't worry about keepin' dhe house clean. Dhe minions'll take care of dat vhile yu're pregnant...vhat else...? Oh yeah, Nefario normally wun't come outta dhe lab, so jus' make sure he'll have some dinner too. Oh, and I shuld put my laptop into dhe bag, yu know - for conversations on skype?" he looked back at her. "And not only for dhe professional kind of calls." He added in a silky, quite suggestive voice as he winked at her.

"Hehe…yes that would be just perfect." She nodded.  
He washed off the foam and ran his hand over face. "Looks fine?" he asked her, in case he had left out a spot.  
Taking a hand to his face, she ran her palm over his cheeks. She rarely noticed any stubbles on him anyway, but after a shave, she could swear his skin was made out of silk.  
"It looks_ perfect_", she purred with a smile and they shared a kiss. Sometimes seeing him shaving his face, she wondered what he would look like with a beard. But on the other side was she more than okay with him never letting any hair grow on almost any part of his body. Turning off the water again, she handed both of them their towels and started to dry herself.  
"But Gru, what you said about Edith... have you talked to her? I mean what if –"she gulped while cleaning her body. "What if she's bullied?"  
Running the towel over his face first, he dried his head and his chest first, before putting it around his waist.  
"Well, she um..." he shrugged. "She doesn't talk about it very often. I have tried to find out vhat dhe reason is, I was talkin' to her, Margo and Agnes and her teachers, and...none of dhem really knew of any bully-attacks. In fact, she had been having some real fights with some boys in her class sometimes. It happens barely, but – I alvays make sure she'll apologize afterwards." He looked back at her, and he could understand that she was worried too. He knew what bullies were capable off, he had his share - and he knew that these kind of things came slowly and mostly behind people's back and even if he would try to talk with her about it, she wouldn't admit it anyway.  
"Uhm...Lucy, maybe yu can talk to her about dis." He asked. "I think she'd trust yu about dat more dhan me!"  
"Oh, trust me more than you? Gru, that's ridiculous! You're her father! I'm just... I'm just their father's girlfriend. I love them, but I'm not their mother yet." Lucy shrugged and put the morning robe back on again, drying her hair with the towel.  
"But I'll talk with her about it when it's time to buy things for school. We can't have her lose school, even though it might not be fun, she needs the basics for whatever she wants to do in life. I needed social studies and psychology for the AVL, and I guess you needed some kind of science degree to pull off stealing the moon? Hmmm? That takes a lot of mathematics." She winked at him.

"Hmm..."Gru murmured while putting his belt on. "Actually also some advantaged knowledge of physics, astronomy and optionally some basics in exoplanetology-"  
He looked back at her and saw the confusion in her eyes. "Yu know for...uh... findin' out dhe positions of some stars and planets. Wuld be a shame to start a rocket dat wuld crash into a meteorite."  
He gathered some of the cosmetics he would need for his trip - toothbrush, razer, contact lenses, ect. - and stuffed them into a small bag.  
"But I hope she'll cooperate while I'm off. If she doesn't, dhen tell her dat I personally will drive back home to have a word vith her."

...

Emptying his cup, he quickly jumped up from his seat. Dang. He was already late! The kids had their breakfast, Gru had his stuff packed - it would hurt leaving them now, but if he wouldn't catch his flight in time, he'd have some big trouble! While putting on his scarf and jacket, a little hand tugged on his pants.  
"Gru? can you help me with my jacket, please?"  
He looked down at his youngest, struggling to get her arms into her jacket. And with an understanding smile, Gru knelt down to help her get it on for her. "You reay for school, sweetheart?"  
"Yes..."  
"Margo too?"  
"She's still eating breakfast."  
"Good, good - vhat about Edith?"  
"I don't know really, she's still in the bathroom."  
"Hm...well, as long as she wun't miss dhe school-bus."  
"Gru, will you bring us something from your trip?"  
"Uhm...Sure, Agnes, I'll see vhat i can find."  
"Okay, love you!" she hugged him and vanished outside the door, Margo following.  
Rising up, he grabbed the suitcase, his bag and looked back at Lucy, holding her belly, with a smile. "Be safe, okay?" He gave her a long, tight hug and kissed her.  
"And if anythin's wrong, yu call me, okay?"  
"I will..." she said and kissed him back, caressing his cheek. "And you'll call this evening when you're at the hotel, okay? Otherwise me and Robin will have a very hard time sleeping tonight." Gru chuckled softly and gave her belly a last caress. "Dun't worry, I will." Then he leaned out to cal upstairs: "Edith? Edith, come downstairs, yu'll miss dhe schoolbus!"

No answer.  
"Edith?"  
Stil no answer.  
"Ugh, she's pretendin' to be sick again so she doesn't have to go to school...Edith, come on now, or I'll come upstairs!"  
"Hon, hon, calm down. I'll take care of this, okay? You gotta go." - "Right..." Gru nodded, kissing her a last time. "Well, I'm off, Edith! See yu dis weekend."  
And with that, he turned around and closed the door, leaving his lovely girlfriend back home - in this terribly gigantic, extraordinary and somewhat gloomy house.  
She sighed, rubbing her belly. "I'm sure you'll love your new home, Robin." she muttered, before she turned around to head upstairs and check for Edith.  
"Edith? Edith, hon, you'll be too late for school!" but even she didn't receive an answer. Once she stood in front of their bathroom, she gently knocked.  
"Edith, what are you doing in there?"  
"Go away! I'm not going to school!" Well, this was what she was warned of. But Lucy was tough and she had had two little brothers to fight with in her childhood - she would get to Ediths core somewhat. She opened the door and saw Edith, all huddled up in a ball in the tub, still in her pajamas and avoiding to look at her.  
"Edith...what's wrong? Why are you against school that much? Why do you skip classes?"

Edith turned around to look at her with confusion. How dd she know? Did Gru tell her? Well, it didn't matter, she knew already and she felt like she had no other choce but to be honest:  
"My teacher doesn't like me." - "What does your teacher do?" - "He shouts at me. He think I'm messing around and being aggressive."

Wow. Being aggressive?  
"Edith, what do you do that is aggressive?" - "I... I just shout at people. They are being SO annoying! They talk all the time and play and won't shut up when I'm trying to work." Lucy's shoulders fell. "I hope you haven't used ju jutsu on them." -"No ma'aam." she rolled her eyes. Trying to comfort the girl, she stretched her hand out into the tub.  
"But maybe today it'll be better?" "No...it's never better This stupid Alex yesterday, he -" she gulped, apparently trying to repress her tears. "He took away my beanie and wanted to throw it around, and then...I just..."  
"Just _what_, Edith?"  
"He started it!" she said loudly, curling up just more. Before she could continue asking questions, she suddenly heard a ring in the hallway! The telephone!  
She quickly stood up from her spot and headed outside to the small table where the phone was charging. She didn't know the number. And by now, she knew almost every number that was dialed in this household.

"Hello? Gru residence?"  
"Are you the mother of Edith Gru?" - "Uh...no, I'm just the babysitter. Who is speaking here?"  
"I'm the principle of Edith's school, Mrs. Dowell. I just meant to inform you that Edith had a fight with a boy in her class, Alexander McDonald. The damages in the fight were grave, Alexander was brought to the hospital with a broken nose yesterday."  
Lucy felt how weak the grip around the telephone became as she slowly turned around to the pink-suited girl in the bathtub. With shock in her eyes, she stared back at her.  
"This behavior is completely off liberty!...I will give you the number of a psychologist for children with aggression and other disorders in young ages and I demand you to see him and if this behavior will not be prohibited at once and in future, I see myself in the position to take the girl off Mister Gru's custody permanently..."


	7. Anger and Sadness

Lucy sat herself way too hard in the chair in the hospital's waiting room. She was simply fuming and had to take some time before she could be a nice person for Margo and Agnes while the psychologist talked with Edith.  
She had not been prepared for that call. She had not been prepared for an angry mother of the attacked boy approaching her as soon as she entered the school yard. She had certainly not been prepared for her telling her Edith had attacked and broke his nose and bruised him very hard –  
And she wasn't happy hearing a snide remark from Edith's teacher that maybe he should take this with someone less emotional than a high pregnant woman that wasn't even the girl's legal guardian. The twit had barely talked five minutes with her in total since she had introduced herself to the school! And now, after nearly two months, Edith was still not allowed to attend certain classes until she had spoken to the therapist – which had no time for them AT ALL to this day.

Fighting back tears, Lucy looked out the window to the playground where Margo and Agnes were in the sunshine. Agnes was playing around with the kids there, but Margo... urgh, not again. It was another day of her having her face glued to the phone and being antisocial with her family.  
Not having the energy to walk over and be mad, Lucy pulled out her own phone.  
_"Put the phone down and play with your little sister. Please. We'll be with you in half an hour"_, she wrote, and pressed 'send'.

"Come on Margo, lets play!" Agnes whined to her sister. She didn't like waiting, but these doctor times with Edith was apparently very important and Lucy hadn't had time to drop her and Margo off at home first.  
Margo cringed a bit as she saw the message popping up on her screen that was sent by Lucy. Looking at Agnes and back to the windows of the building where Edith was.  
She didn't want to play with her sister, to be honest. She had this cute conversation with Avery going, and she wouldn't like to be disturbed.  
"Come on, Margo, let's play!" she tugged on her sisters sleeve.  
"Agnes, stop it!" she hissed back. "I'll play with you in a minute!"  
"But i want now!" - "Oh, shut up!"  
About twenty seconds later, tears ran down Agnes' red face and she ran away from her. "Agnes, stay here!" she shouted and ran after her, but Agnes tried to elude her on purpose.  
Until she grabbed her wrist. "Agnes, cut this_ bullshit!_"

Edith heard her sister crying outside and she looked through the window to see Margo arguing with Agnes.  
"Edith, look at me…" the psychologist said in a calm, but firm voice. Edith didn't listen.  
_**"Edith!"  
**_She finally looked back at him, angrily.  
"Good... So, will you tell me why you attacked that boy in class?" - "He deserved it! This idiot was poking me with a pen, all the time, while i was speaking! And then he took my beanie away!"  
"Mh-hmh, but don't you think you simply could have asked him to stop it instead of attacking him?"  
"He wouldn't have stopped anyway..." she mumbled. "Nobody listens to me!"  
After about ten minutes, the door opened and Edith stepped outside, her beanie pulled over her eyes, and the psychologist turned to Lucy.  
"Miss Wilde, may I have a talk with you?"  
"Me? Get inside? Talk?" Lucy was totally flabbergasted by the request. There had been issues at the start of Edith's hours, her guardian and father not being present and he had to sign all kinds of papers saying Lucy was allowed to make decisions for his daughters. She looked down at the pleading girl.  
"Can i go outside now...?" Asked Edith and looked at Lucy.  
"Sure Edith, go out and play, your sisters are by the playground. And be nice, all of you, please? I was planning on making batter pudding for dinner." The little girl ran off without a word, and Lucy's shoulders dropped. The odds were high that she had disregarded everything after the word "sure". Lucy turned towards the psychologist and gave him a weak smile.

"Kids huh? They won't even listen to you when you're doing something nice to them. Now, what did you want to talk about?"  
Giving the younger woman a skeptical glance, he turned around, and closed the door behind them. He certainly wasn't that type of man to laugh about the term _"kids"  
_"So..." he sat down at the table. "You're her mother?"  
"Oh, uh, no...just the guardian. Her father is on a business-trip and I, his girfriend, have decided to take care of them until he has returned."  
The man nodded absently-minded, before looking down at the already mightily swollen belly of hers. She was now in her eighth month, and wow - their baby apparently needed a whole lot of space. It was active as it ever could be, kicked, moved, made her run to the bathroom every ten minutes...

"Miss Wilde..." he started again, collecting some of the notes he had made.  
"I was expecting her rightful father here, but as i heard that you took in the place for Mister Gru at the moment, I may grant an exemption."  
With a deep sigh, he looked outside to see Edith trying to comfort her little sister a bit while Margo seemed to complain about how childish Agnes was acting.  
"Miss Wilde, the reason why she attacked her classmates at school is a stress-included reaction towards her surrounding and the periphery she lives in. She shows clearly a lack of endurance, patience and powers of concentrations..."  
Looking at his table for a second, he seemed to look for something.  
"Uh, due to this she also sees her classmates as a potential danger of her privacy. You see - i have worked with many children who seem to have problems with their others, but I can provide you information for a therapy for children with ADHD." he shoved a leaflet over the desk and into her direction. It was the leaflet of a clinic for children. "And also, I'd suggest to take her off school for a couple of days."

Lucy was shocked! ADHD? That would explain her lashing out on her classmates.  
"But, why haven't they noticed this before? Didn't the orphanage have her checked? Oh, how will I tell her father?" She'd let her face fall into her head, staring down at the floor.  
"Well, from what Edith has told me, her orphanage wasn't the very best establishment to be raised or diagnosed with any...well." he gave a little shrug.  
"Do you need more meetings to determine if it's ADHD? And...and what can we do to help her?"  
"As for next meetings - it won't be necessary. She seems to get along with her problems better than normal ADHD-children her age, and the next step would be, indeed, the therapy in the clinic on a daily base. It is not like school, but it would give her the opportunity to live among children with the same problems. I see that she has issues with finding friends as well, and perhaps she'll have the opportunity to find friends there."  
This terrified Lucy. Not really the diagnose, she had heard of it before, it wasn't a death sentence, just an explanation on why some have harder to focus in a school enviroment with a bunch of other kids their age. But why did it have to come now, when Lucy was pre-

"Did _I_ trigger it? With, the baby I mean?" She didn't know if it was possible, but she needed to know.  
He could see the anxiety in her eyes. "Miss Wilde, ADHD is not the end of the world. In fact, many children nowadays have ADHD, even adults and they never have been diagnosed with it. They live a normal live, of course with some barriers, if you know what I mean. Just tell her that she has a special kind of temperament and that she has to learn to keep it under control.  
About the baby..." he looked at her belly again. "I am pretty sure that has nothing to do with that in particular. But as well as for children with the Asperger syndrome, she is not used to sudden changes. She sees them as a endangerment, more than a joy. I think it has been triggered through the news that there was going to be a huge change now and that affects her intentional powers."

The doc had his chin rested in his folded hands, looking back at her. "In case you ask - we will not provide her any medication, it will not be necessary. As mentioned, she appears to keep her temper under control most of the time."  
"Good, I was really hoping she wouldn't need medication. I'm not the best at reminding anyone to do anything." She took a breath before continuing.

"So, special kind of temperament, that will be easy to tell her. How should I deal with school? That clinic, is that an afternoon thing? Or I should just read these pamphlets and get back to you, I guess?" She lauged a bit. It wasn't a jolly laugh, it was tired and annoyed and frustrated. Not at Edith, at the whole day. And on top of that, Robin was now awake and kicked into the insides of Lucy, which was so much more painful than when kicking out.

"In terms of school - You should inform her teacher and principal. You should give her some space, away from school, about three or four days. In case the clinic wants her to stay off school longer than three days, then you should consider her repeating a class perhaps. The clinic is starting at 9 and goes to 4 in the afternoon. She can stay as long as she wants and as long as you want her to stay. We cannot offer you an entire cure, but she'll learn how to deal with her problems."  
He nodded towards the window. "Edith always can come to me as well, if she wants to talk."

Suddenly the door opened and Agnes stood in the doorframe, holding Ediths hand, dirt and tears on her face but she acted as nothing really happened.  
"Lucy, can we go home now...? I'm cold and Margo won't play with me...!"  
"Agn- Urgh!" Lucy sighed. And now Agnes had been crying. "What happened kitten?" Rather awkwardly, Lucy got down on her knees to embrace Agnes in a hug.  
"Margo won't play with me!"  
"Was she on her phone?"  
"Yeah..." Lucy felt a growl emerging from her troat. She did leave Margo with a lot of liberty, but there could have happened thing while Lucy was in the hospital, and she simply didn't trust Margo to notice Agnes running out on the street if she was busy with a flirt on the phone.  
She looked back at the doc, but he just gave her a nod that granted her to leave this conversation."  
"Alright girls, lets find your sister."  
"Is she gonna get punished?" Agnes asked.  
"Well, she sure is looking on a grounding", Lucy muttered. "Thank you so much doctor, I'll read trough everything and I'll call you if we need your help."

Walking out with quick steps, she soon reached the playground with firm steps and the two small girls in tow. Before Margo could do anything, Lucy nicked the phone from her hands and glared at the girl. She was never used to be mad at Margo, she was the mature one, the adult one that always did what she was told, seeing Agnes cry over her behavior had never occurred.  
"Whatever you're writing can wait until you're home."  
"Hey!" she snarled back at her.  
"I asked you to play with Agnes while I was waiting for Edith. Now lets go, you'll get your phone back when I say so." She put the phone into her handbag and led all of them to the small car, just hoping everything could go smooth until they were home and she could let them do whatever they wanted while she was doing dinner.

"I did play with her!"  
"No, you didn't!" Agnes cried out. "Liar!" - "I'm not a liar! You just wouldn't let me finish my message and then you started to whine like a baby and ran off!"  
_**"I' y!**_" She cried out louder, fresh tears rolling over her cheeks.  
Edith pressed her beanie over her eyes, holding her ears closed. They hurt, every time Agnes was crying in that high-pitched voice and it was horrible.  
Through the entire ride, Agnes wouldn't stop fighting with Margo, and even as Edith complained a thousand times they should stop acting like babys, they continued to argue.  
"Shut up, both of you!" she yelled at them. "No, _you_ shut up, Edith!" Margo yelled back, and within seconds, all three kids started to argue loudly.

_**"YOU ALL SHUT UP!"**_ Lucy shouted once they hit the last red light before the house. "I won't hear a _single_ word from any one of you until I've parked the car back home, or so help me, it's bed after dinner the rest of the week until your father is home!" She really didn't want to shout at anyone of them, Edith in particular, but right now, she just needed them to be quiet. "I need to be able to focus on driving, girls, and if you continue bicker, there can be accidents. PLEASE, just stay shut until we all are home and we can sort everything out then."  
It wasn't usual for them to be yelled at, Gru never yelled at them pretty loud. But the shout she roared was menacing enough for them all to hush instantly, staring back at Lucy and at each other.  
She was stressed, they noticed.  
Agnes instinctively clutched to Margo arm, and she didn't pull back this time. Giving them both a glance, they knew they certainly have overstepped the mark.

_Don't cry Lucy, don't cry,_ she chanted for herself. This day just got worse and worse. At least she had been able to see Gru's face during a video conference with Silas to know that he was alright even though there had been an attack on the mansion he was infiltrating. But ever since Gru was gone, everything just went worse and worse.

...

Lucy wouldn't admit it in front of the girls - but she missed Gru just the most. With a cup of tea in her hand, she sat on the chair in the kitchen while she watched the lasagna bake in the oven, recollecting the events of today. How should she tell him? He apparently wasn't aware of Edith's condition before, after all, he would have told her! However - taking her off school was easy, but making sure the other two would understand that it was important for Edith to stay away from classes without them suggesting to stay home was well would be probably a bit harder. Gru hasn't been with her for a while now. The last four weeks had been too stressful and busy for him to return home, but now that she knew he was going to come home this weekend was a huge relief to her - there were many things to talk about - and start doing. For example; the nursery for Robin. While living alone here, Lucy had been stating to wander around a bit - and found out that this house was way bigger than she had thought. The several locked doors in the upstairs' hallway, which Gru never seemed to open, at least not often. The many hidden rooms and floors. Way upstairs was his own office and he had promised while Lucy would still work from home the next few months, also after Robin was born, that next to him, she would have her very own office.

She had been pondering a lot. It was of course a done deal that she had now been officially moved in with him. Her stuff was still in her tiny apartment back on the other side of town - but she would make sure to sell this tiny two-room-flat as soon as possible. But after all this time, she had found out that apparently, the job of being a mother for the kids was harder than supposed - and that she sucked at it quite much.  
Today was just a really bad day. She missed Gru, and it was only a Tuesday. She wanted to crawl up in a hot bath and just cry and then go to sleep, but the girls needed her to pull it trough and be the mom they required. First this hard punch in her face about Edith's condition, then Margo not playing with her sister - it made her feel just worse and worse. And now other images popped up, how the teachers always threw skeptical glances at her, the harsh comments over her not even being Gru's wife or guardian of the kids - somebody even made a comment behind her back about her being some Russian or Hungarian immigrant, only hooking up with Gru and making sure to become pregnant so she could get married with him and receive a greencard. That was completely rubbish, and she didn't even bother to explain these that she was neither of this and that she was an official citizen of america.  
However - sticks and stones breaks her bones. But it hurt. It hurt having other people judge her wrongly by her belly.  
It felt like she wasn't wanted, and neither was Robin. Her hand glided down over her belly which had grown a whole lot now. The baby sensed her stress and started kicking. "Shhh, it's okay, I'm sorry...Mommy's just a bit upset." she mumbled, caressing the surface.

Once dinner was ready, Lucy called the kids back into the house - Only to be shocked about seeing Edith and Agnes covered in mud, carrying their dirty shoes through the hallways and polluting the entire floor.  
"EDITH, AGNES!" she shouted and the two of them winced, seeing Lucy marching towards them to examine the mess they had left. The entire corridor looked like a swamp-monster emerged and ran over the red carpet. "Shoes off, now!" she hissed, pointing down at them. "And take off that overall too, Agnes! Edith, bring your stockings upstairs into the bathroom!"  
She then turned to Margo. "Margo -"  
_"What?!"_ she hissed back. Lucy opened her mouth to respond, but honestly, she was a bit surprised over Margo snapping back at her. She was, compared to her sisters, still spared from any dirt.  
"Sit down, we'll have dinner now... and hands off of my purse!" she just had turned around and saw Margo reaching for Lucy's bag. As if she was that blind to not notice her secretly taking her phone again. But once Lucy yelled at her, she pulled her hand away like she touched fire. Edith and Agnes vanished upstairs to get their clothes off, while Margo sat down at the table, arms crossed and a pout on her face. Lucy was present in this household long enough to know that this wasn't working on her. She just turned her back on her to get the meatloaf out of the oven and put them on a plate, cut them into small pieces for Edith and Agnes and left half of it on the plate, if any of them wanted second serving. Her head was pounding, her back killed her, and the baby wouldn't stop stirring and moving and kicking against the surface of her belly. If only Gru were here - he would take care of the girls so she would have a break.  
"There..." Lucy put the plate in front of Margo. But she looked away. "I'm not hungry." she muttered.  
"I don't care, you'll eat it!"  
"I said, I'm not hungry...!" she snapped back. "Margo, I'm not gonna argue with you - either you'll eat up, or you won't get your phone for the entire week!"  
Margo opened her mouth in a shocked state, but closed it again with an insulting mutter - Lucy ignored it.

Edith and Agnes came back, wearing nothing but their underwear, and Edith still had her dirty hat on. No matter what Lucy did to convince her, she wouldn't give it up.  
"Sit down, your food gets cold!" Lucy growled and the youngest two nodded and swiftly made their way to their seats, starting to eat slowly ad without saying a word.  
Lucy sighed deeply, holding her head in her hands. This was a disaster...How was Gru gonna react once he found out they were just arguing, all the time, and Edith had ADHD and needed treatment? How was she gonna do all that? She wasn't their mother, lawfully just their babysitter. And even if she was their mom - she would suck at her job.  
"Margo..." Lucy looked back at the eldest, who still refused to touch her food. She just stared back at the redhead with a piercing glance. "Margo, please eat."  
"No." Margo replied. "Margo, i said eat!"  
"Make me!" she muttered, eyes narrowing.  
That was the moment when Lucy snapped.  
"Fine!" she said in a calm, yet angry voice, reached for her purse and held up Margo's phone on the small heart-shaped pendant. "Then this will vanish for the rest of the week." Lucy stood up, only to feel her head aching and spinning, but she nevertheless moved to the living room.  
"No!" Margo called. "Stop!"  
"Margo, will you eat now, or not-?"  
"I don't wanna eat this! This tastes like garbage!" Edith pushed her plate away from her, and Agnes did the same, leaving half of their meal on the plate.  
"Can we have pizza...?"  
"P-Pizza...?" Lucy uttered under her breath. This was it. She quit. Tears of anger, frustration and helplessness formed in her eyes and with a sob, she dropped the cellphone on the carpet to run away, into the living room and closed the doors behind her. Then, she leaned against the wall to slide down until she was sitting, her head on her knees and her arms around her legs.  
Everything was Lucy's fault. Even triggering Edith's ADHD to get worse was thanks to her, and thanks to her being pregnant, their father had to go on this mission instead of her. The family had been better of if she had never joined them.

"I'm a lousy mom! I'll never be good at this!" She moaned into her hands, not even sure if someone could hear her, the girls probably still in the kitchen, rejecting their meal.  
"My cooking stinks and I can't even deal with the teachers! Gru would never screw up like this!" Did she just swore? Lucy didn't really pay mind to what she said out loud right now, being so caught up in her emotions.  
"They hate me and with good reason! I should simply not be in charge of them." She continued crying, tiring herself out. The kids all have instantly jumped up from their seat, but Margo stopped them to follow her. She knew that Lucy probably needed a few moments. For a second everything was quiet, until they heard a loud cry, muffled words, but they could hear one sentence clearly

_"I'm a lousy mom"_

"Oh no..." Agnes breathed, quickly ran away from Edith's side, down the hallway.  
Agnes was small and wasn't very strong, Gru always had to help her opening the door to the living room, but this time Agnes used all her power to push the door open and seeing their mom sitting on the floor, crying insider her hands. "Lucy...!" She carefully approached her. "I-I-I'm sorry we were mean to you...!" She sat next to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry we made you cry, we didn't mean to..."  
Continuing crying, she felt a distant feeling of preassure on her skin. She heard a voice, and recognized that Agnes was trying to talk to her. Then another little body was close to her, diving her face into her side. Peeking trough her fingers, she saw Edith look up to her.  
Edith had followed Agnes and saw her hugging Lucy, sitting on the floor and sobbing loudly.  
Without a word, she sat next to Lucy too and hugged her too, burying her face into her side.  
"Lucy, please don't cry." Agnes begged. "We're sorry - we didn't mean to upset you." said Edith now. "Please, don't cry."

She wasn't prepared for Edith to beg her not to cry. Not after she had been so horrible to all of them and Edith being the least forgiving of the girls.  
"I'm horrible", she wheezed out to the little blond girl, still sobbing, but she pulled them both in a big embrace. Margo still stood in the doorframe, ashamed of herself and her behavior. She never intended to make their mother cry... "I can't even make the three of you be nice to each other without shouting. Your teachers won't talk to me, your doctor doesn't want to talk to me really, and everything is just going down the drain. Edith, I'm so sorry I shouted at you. You deserve so much better than me. You all do."  
"Lucy, don't say that!" they blurted out. "You're a great mother, we love you!"  
Lucy smiled briefly, before moaning slightly. Moving her hands to the side of her face, she tried to just focus on not passing out.  
"Is the room spinning...? I...I think i need some water..."  
"Spinning? What are you talking abou-"  
"Agnes, get her some water!" Margo had scooted over to them,noticing that Lucy had turned pale instantly. Agnes and Margo switched places and Agnes quickly made her way to the kitchen to get her a glass of water.  
"Lucy, you are not horrible." Margo caressed her arm. "We are horrible, the people around us are horrible. Lucy, we do fight sometimes, but its normal! Do you even know how often we fight in Grus presence? He even has given up shouting at us to be quiet."  
"Right." Edith snuggled her as good as she could. "Also, its fine you shouted at us. It nothing compared what Hattie did to us!"  
Lucy sobbed again, brushing away her tears. "I'm...I'm not as bad as Miss Hattie?"  
"Oh, goodness, no!" they shook their heads.  
Agnes returned with the glass of water, but being very clumsy and quite in a hurry, she spilled half of it on the floor and the carpet, but she handed it to her anyway.  
"Look, I got you water." She said proudly. "Here, drink. And please don't cry anymore, Lucy."  
Lucy took the glass from Agnes hands with a weak smile. Slowly drinking the half filled glass, she calmed herself down enough to listen to the girls.  
"So, I'm not doing a bad job?" She asked weakly.  
"No!" they all shook their heads. "No, you're not doing a bad job at all Lucy." Agnes hugged her once more. "You're a great parent, right?"  
"Yeah!" Edith nodded. "Who has a Kung fu fighting agent as a mom? I bet nobody!"  
"And I have seen you taking care for us when you had to babysit us for one night or two - and you were great."  
Margo added and they all three gave her another tight hug. Breathing slowly, sipping on the water, she felt better. It warmed her heart to see the three girls getting along and hugging her. "You're not a lousy mom, really..."

"I just want to be a good parent to you, and I'm afraid Gru has set the bar too high, he's amazing with you." Lucy sighed, finishing her glass, before smiling warmly a the three of them. "But...thank you guys...this really helped me. I'm sorry I snapped, and yelled at you...  
And I'm sorry for getting so mad, Margo. I have no right getting that mad at any of you." She kissed the three kittens foreheads. "I love you. All three. You're such wonderful and sweet and smart, all in your own way." She smiled, looking at her three girls.  
Hers. Her girls...  
"We love you too, Lucy. We really do."  
And once again, the small family shared some tight hugs, kisses and smiles.

"Can we watch a movie?" The kids sat on the couch, each of them holding a sandwich in their hands. Even Lucy had to admit - her dinner this time tasted horrible. Like, well, garbage, as Edith had described it. So, she quickly fixed some bread, salad and whatever the girls wanted on their sandwiches, all sitting on the couch now and watching some TV shows. "Oh can we watch happy feet?" Asked Agnes. "Ugh, I wanna watch spirited away!"  
"But these monsters scare me..." Said Agnes in a small voice. "No they are cool, come on."  
"What do you wanna watch, Lucy?" The two of them turned to look at the redhead. Lucy laughed - she had no idea what movie she wanted to watch, she barely watched any movies at all. "Well, as I said, it's Edith's choice tonight Agnes. You can sit next to me and talk to the baby when it's scary, does that sound good?"  
Agnes fumbled with her fingers, but nodded then. They were happy they wouldn't have to argue anymore. Lucy was calm and that was all they wanted for now...  
The movie started with a calming piano music, Agnes leaned her head against Lucy's big belly to try and hear anything inside. Lucy herself nearly didn't pay attention to the movie as well, she just watched her little Agnes trying to bond with the baby, and that was simply adorable.  
"Hey little baby. We're watching Spirited away." she whispered against the surface.  
Lucy giggled a little, Agnes pressed her lips against her sin and it tickled slightly when she spoke. "Have you father and I told you we've given the baby a name? It's gonna be Robin. What do you think about that?"  
"Robin?" Edith looked up at her. "So it is a boy?"  
"No, Robin is a name for both, Girl and boys, isn't it?"  
"Yes, Robin is a girl's name as well. You know the girl I listen to on the radio sometimes? Her name is Robyn." Lucy knew the girls had listened to her old cds, even though they didn't know the name of all the musicians. "Robin is also a girls name?" Agnes whispered to her sister. "Didn't know that either, actually...does that mean the sidekick of Batman has also a girls name?" And they both started to snicker.  
"Well - We thought it would suit the rest of your names in flow and length. So the baby won't be the odd one out, girl or boy." Lucy answered with a shrug and smiled.  
"But I assume you both still don't know the gender of the baby?" Margo looked at Lucy.  
"No, we still don't wanna know the gender yet. We could have gotten to know about which chromosomes the baby have during the last test, but I don't want to assume stuff, you know? We'll see when Robin arrives."  
Agnes and Edith honestly didn't understand why Gru and Lucy would like to keep the gender a secret until it has arived. It was so much more fun referring to it as "baby-sister" or "baby-brother", but apparently, they had to wait as well.  
"But one thing is for sure..." Lucy patted her belly gently. "Robin is gonna be a strong little fellow. The baby is always kicking around every waking moment."

"Hehe, of course he will be strong!" Edith said, deciding to call the baby a he. She still was sure it was going to be a male. "He has a superagent and an ex-supervillain as his parents, he's going to be the strongest in the family! Oh, we could work out together!" she suggested.  
"I think Robin is a pretty name for a girl." Agnes said and finished her meal as well.  
"I bet she wants to get outside of you quickly! She wants to walk around and play with us, and I am pretty sure she would like to watch Happy feet rather than Spirited away."  
She looked back at Edith with a slight glare. "And when do you think is the baby coming?" Margo asked. "Around September or October?"  
"Oh, I'm not that far yet." Lucy chuckled. It did feel like it was time soon, the belly was big. " entered the third trimester Margo. The doctor says it's due to the beginning of December, or the end of November, just a few weeks before Christmas. And the baby seems to be growing fine. I do hope it's sooner rather than later, it starts to get heavy." Agnes looked at the roundness in Lucy's lap. It was already big! Huge, actually! How could her belly become even bigger?  
A few moments passed with Agnes talking to Robin, Edith watching and Margo slowly dozing off during the film. "I really don't wanna see spirited away..."Agnes mumbled with crossed arms.  
"Come on, now, you never even have seen it in the first place, how do you know you'll dislike it, heh? Hey, there will be-uhm...oh there will be unicorns in the movie! And frogs and mice! You like frogs and mice, do you?"  
"Yeah i do!" she said and smiled. "You think Robin will like Frogs and Mice and Unicorn too?"  
"Pff! No, he'll like Teenage Mutant ninja turtles and Dinosaurs and all that, just like a real boy!"  
"But she's not going to be a boy, I'm sure about that!" Agnes looked back at Lucy in the kitchen. "Lucy, what do you wanna have rather? A boy or a girl?"  
"Aw, sweetheart." Lucy patted Agnes head. Wwe've been over this, I'm happy whatever we get. Robin might end up liking both unicorns and dinosaurs when it's a boy, just like Edith likes teenage mutant ninja turtles and she's still a girl. Whatever Robin turns out to be, it doesn't really limit what they would become."  
"Whatever he or she will be..." Agnes muttered, with a horrified expression on her face as Chihiro's parents turned into pigs. "Robin, I swear I'll never let you watch that movie! We'll always just watch Happy Feet, okay?" She looked up at Lucy. "Can i talk to her a bit more?"

"That's alright sweetheart, you talk as much as you want. It actually helps Robin recognize voices, so the baby will feel safe around you when he or she arrives." She started to feel tired herself, not really being able to get into the movie tonight. Agnes tilted her head. "Really? She can recognize voices?"  
Pressing her ears on her belly, she tried to hear something. There wasn't much to hear, sadly, but suddenly she raised her head again, eyes wide open.  
"She kicked me!" she blurted, more happy than upset. "Lucy, she kicked! She's moving!"  
Holding her tiny hand on the spot she had felt the movement, some seconds later another kick was felt. "Lookit that, Lucy, she's communicating with me! She knew i had my hand on your belly and she kicked right inside my palm!" Lucy broke out in a grin from seeing Agnes' cheerful face. It was always so special when the little girl tried to be all sisterly with the baby that was inside.

Margo held her hand against her belly on the spot where Agnes had felt the baby moving.  
"Does it hurt when she kicks you?" asked Margo, looking at Lucy. "Hurts? Not really, as long as they kicks out. When they hit the bladder though, yikes, that hurts. Or when they is stretching out and it pressures the lungs, but then I just need to sit down until it's alright again. But you know...It's not really the kicking that hurts, it's everything else. I get headaches, lightheaded as you noticed earlier, an-" She was about to confess how randy she got, but bit her lip, blushing in the face. "-and my feet hurt. They are swollen and I can't have my favourite shoes." She was going to crack a joke about the first thing she was going to do after the birth was to grab a drink since she'd been missing going out, but she remembered that there was no alcohol in this household except for the rubbing kind for wounds.  
"She kicks against her bladder?" Agnes stared at Margo in shock.  
"It's fine Agnes, she just then has to go to the toilet that all-"  
"He pressures against her lungs?" Edith had turned around with wide eyes, just as shocked as Agnes was.  
"Guys, calm down, she's fine, and she hasn't died from it yet!"  
"D i e d?! Y-you can die from carrying a baby?!"  
"No, that's not what i meant-!"  
"Ugh, I'll never, ever get pregnant!" Edth turned around again, pulling her hoodie back over her eyes. "M-me neither i think..." Agnes added.  
"Ugh...fine, I give up...!" she said and looked back at the screen, finally watching the movie.

Later that evening, the credits rolled and Edith and Margo felt themselves yawning and exhausted from the day. Agnes has fallen asleep, her head resting agains Lucy's belly and even Robin seemed to be asleep by now. The baby didn't kick for over an hour now.  
Picking up the youngest, she looked at the res of them.  
"Alright guys, time for you to go to bed! I'll tuck you in."  
"Mhh...Okay!"  
They went upstairs, brushing their teeth, getting dressed and Edith kept talking about how cool the movie was with the dragon boy and the water spirit and so on, while Margo didn't really seem to listen to her. She was constantly thinking about Avery and kind of wished to grab her phone and continue to chat with him...  
Margo already headed to bed, a bit developing a kind of angry and tenses attitude, but Edith turned around before she could get back to her bedroom to see Lucy leaving after she made sure Agnes was in bed and asleep.  
"Uhm...Lucy..." she mumbled. "Uhm...so, what did the doc say? Is it...is it something serious? I mean, that I act like i act. He made me feel like a big mistake, and...do you think I am a mistake...?"  
"Oh honey!" She was about to bend down to the little girl, but realized her weight balance just in time. Instead, she slowly knelt down. She hugged the girl and put her forehead against the blond one.  
"Listen, I talked to the doctor, and it's nothing serious. You haven't done anything wrong, and you are not a mistake. You just have a different way to handle stress and distractions, and we need to work a bit on that. It's called ADHD sweetheart, and we're gonna go and see a clinic tomorrow morning. Good news is, you're gonna be off school for the rest of the week. Doesn't that sound good? I know the doctor probably asked a bunch of weird questions but he needs to know everything to do a fair estimation." She hugged Edith another time, trying to make sure she didn't appear mad. Edith was oddly relieved that Lucy was going to let her stay off school the next days. She had to be honest, she hated school, just out of the reason se had to meet all these idiotic other kids again.

"Do you wanna sleep in tomorrow? I'll talk to your teachers and the principal, you don't have to get up..."  
She nodded slowly while hugging her. "I-i... don't wanna go to school tomorrow, I-if that's okay to you..."  
Gru never would let her stay off school. Just when she was feeling sick, and that happened to be actually...never. She was a healthy little chap and even if Gru was encouraging her to like her classmates and teachers - she simply didn't.  
"That's totally understandable, honey..."  
She gave her another tight hug, carefully so she won't press against her belly and Edith nuzzled her face into the crook of her neck.  
"Goodnight Lucy...see you tomorrow." - "Goodnight, Edith."  
She let go of her and walked back into the bedroom.  
Slipping beneath her blanket, resting her head on her pillow, she sighed, seeing Margo rolling around in her sleep, restlessly.  
Waiting a couple of minutes she closed her eyes. ADHD...  
What if Gru heard about her disorder? He didn't like hyperactive children, what if he would tell her he wouldn't like her anymore too...

Lucy walked into the master bedroom, leaving the door a little bit open. She looked around the room to make sure she was alone and then slowly undressed herself.  
Getting her nightgown on, she turned on the light of the nightstand and turned off the light of the roof, leaving a light source if any of the girls got up in the night. Crawling into the bed, she sighed, slamming her arm over the empty spot where Gru usually was lying.  
Feeling a slight kick again, Lucy smiled into the pillow, thinking of Gru. Some months from now, their child would be born, and she would be a lot more relaxed. Thinking back to her panic attack months ago, she blushed over how he had proposed to her within a heartbeat. When she still was an outsider to the family. How different things were now. Now they were a family. A team. And soon, the family of five would be a family of six. Lucy still remembered how shocked she was to hear that she was going to be a mother. But now, she couldn't await to hold her little baby in her arms, to give Gru an offspring - something that would make their bonds unbreakable. Right now, she wished nothing else but being with Gru, with him holding her and caressing her belly like he always did. To him, it was a big deal. Of course it was - their baby, their very own baby, was growing inside her and he was excited to have her be the mother of his first biological child. a warm smile formed on her face. How she loved this man - how she loved the child inside her...  
The door opened, barely, and footsteps echoed over the hallway. It would have been either one of the girls of the minions, the stumping of a child of the chubby henchmen was undeniable. They walked across the corridor, passing the door to the bathroom.  
Edith couldn't sleep and wasn't even feeling tired. She was worried, her head filled with so many things...  
She wouldn't even know how to find peace with them swirling in her head.  
Usually, none of the girls was allowed to share the bed with Gru. Everytime they had a nightmare, he granted them to sleep in the big bed with him, just so they wouldn't feel restless and scared.  
But Edith hoped that Lucy would make an exception in her case.  
Hoping she was asleep anyway and wouldn't notice her intrusion into her's and her fathers bedroom, she carefully opened the door, slipping through the gap between the frame and the door and walked toward the big bed. With a jump, she climbed up on the sheets, keeping herself quiet, just like she had learned from her ninja-skills. She laid down, crawling closer to Lucy.  
Her eyes were fixed on her belly. She didn't know why, but...out of the three of them, she never had been talking to her sibling before, never made any bondings to them.

"Hey, Robin..." she mumbled, scooting a bit closer to the big bulge.  
"I can't sleep, Margo's talking in her sleep and Agnes won't keep still, she's turning around all the time..." She paused for a minute.  
"I, uhm...I know the others think that you'll be a girl, and...well, maybe they're right. But i really want you then to become an awesome baby-sister, okay? I can show you how to handle the nunchucks and you can watch Naruto with me..."  
Placing her hand on Lucy's belly, she sighed. "I'm sorry i treated your mom so bad as i heard you was going to grow inside her. I was scared Daddy wouldn't love me anymore...I still am kinda scared now, after i heard I was having ADHD...what if Daddy won't like me anymore then? He's all i have, you know..."  
Sighing a bit, she rested her forehead against her hand. "I am also scared that the clinic isn't going to help me...I wanna be normal. I wanna be a normal child...i wana be the perfect daughter for mom and dad...Please, promise me...be what i can't do: Don't be troublesome...be a good son or daughter to Mom and Dad...be the child Mom deserves - she's so cool, and awesome and strong and i admire her so much..."  
She felt her eyes becoming heavier and heavier.

Hearing the little girl apologise to the baby inside of her, Lucy had to bite her lip not to begin to cry. That sweet little girl was so afraid. Lucy reminded herself, she really needed to take this with Gru in private, and with enough time so he could relax before meeting Edith. He was an amazing father, but his patience with his middle daughter was starting to wear thin.  
"I can't...wait...to see how you'll...be...little one..." she muttered, finally falling asleep.  
"Edith..." Lucy breathed, but Edith was sleeping. She scooted herself up to have the power to pull Edith up to her chest and snuggle her gently. Hugging her daughter tight, Lucy kissed her several times, crying silently into her hat while falling asleep.


	8. Deserve

"Girls, where are you two going?"  
Margo and Agnes froze, the cart they dragged behind them stopped squeaking as the wheels stopped turning.  
"Oh we're going to sell cookies again. It's going to be a bit longer than usually, while Edith's in the clinic. But we'll be back around 17 again!"  
"Dhey're still collectin' money for charities. At dhe moment we're collectin' some to help preventin' dat dhe Sibirian Tigers wun't die out."  
"And some goes to the refugee camps in Syria." explained Margo.  
"I wanted to give the science some money so they'll be able to create real living unicorns." Admitted Agnes.  
Lucy laughed at Agnes words and looked over to Gru, her hand covering her mouth.  
"Alright kids, but don't come back too late !"  
"Oh, can we have pizza tonight?"  
"Pizza? ugh." Gru stuck out his tongue. "C'mon, I'm sure even Edith would like to have some Pizza."  
Gru sighed. "Fine, fine. But only if we make dhem ourselves, okay?"  
That was fair enough for them. And with a last goodbye, the kids vanished and Lucy and Gru started cleaning the kitchen. It was a weekend again, time for Gru to spend some time with his family. The news about Edith and her situation was hard to swallow for him - but Gru accepted it as a challenge to make sure Edith will feel better soon. Instead of school, Edith was brought to a group, where she was among other kids with ADHD, learning how to correctly behave. She loved it there. The kids were nice and she made a few friends already, something that has always seemed to be a huge problem for the middle child in the Gru household. And Lucy ad Gru had great plans for today. The baby was going to arrive in less than two months and Gru finally found a room, close to their bedroom and the girls room to be robins nursery - at least until she or he would be old enough to sleep in the same room with the girls.

Gru helped Lucy to put the dishes into the sink and couldn't stop smiling, It was a secret smile and he wasn't even sure if he should express his inner happiness about them both having a little baby together without bugging her. Instead, he just put his hand around her, stroking her belly gently, nuzzled his forehead into her hair and kissed her temple briefly.  
"So vhat du we need...? Some Trashbags, some stuff for babies...vhat about wall paint? Yu and dhe kids culd help me paint dhe room!"  
Lucy put a hand over his, stopping his stroking and just let it rest on the top. She was a bit nervous about going out, so she was grateful that he wanted to tag along. Last time, she had to explain for ten minutes to the cashier at the grocery store that she wasn't at all abandoned by the father to the three girls she was having along or the unborn baby, they just had a different family dynamic. In the end, the cashier had insisted that it's alright to walk out without your ring when your fingers are swollen, but maybe she should have had it in a necklace to not make people wonder.

"We need bags to throw things out, cleaning stuff if we're short in stock." She kissed his arm that was going over her, looking up in his face. "And some of those spatula-looking thingies to take off the tapestry! Paint would be wonderful. But no crib or anything like that Gru, it's jinxing it. I dunno why, it's something my gran told me. If you buy it when it's gonna be empty, it's gonna stay empty." Lucy stopped the water and turned around towards her boyfriend. "Wow...well that's dark." he commented on the story her grandma told her. "Well, we dun't want it to stay empty, hm?...So no crib for now." Stroking with his thumb over her knuckles, he gave a small sigh. "I'll be driving, okay? We gotta go to that hardware store and get anything we need, and then we pick up Edith."  
"Are yu sure yu wanna drive?"  
"Yes, i am." Lucy turned in his embrace and placed her hands on his cheeks. "I might be big but not incapable of anything."  
"Of course, of course." they shared a kiss, before he let go of her, telling her to check on the little room upstairs again, just in case he hadn't checked enough - in fact, he really has had checked enough to know that it was perfectly fine for a nursery, and yet he probably just felt the need to fantasize that this was going to be another room for another child.

"Phew...dhis is goin' to be a lot of work." he mumbled, looking around. All the stuff neither he nor the girls used was stored here. Old weapons, Agnes' tricycle, some doll houses, barbies without any heads - Gru wondered why in heavens name they even bought half of the stuff when they weren't going to use it anyway. But granted, he didn't take any care of this room for years. Funny to think that he would spend a lot of time in that room in future. He closed the door, picked up his scarf and returned to Lucy.  
"Well, I think dhe gurls have to make anodher yard sale once in a while..." He said to his girlfriend, bringing her to the car. "Oh that would be great! But they have to hurry, it's getting chilly outside." Lucy stared outside, the beautiful tree the neighbors on the other side of the street had in their frontyard started to turn orange and lost it's leafs already. Late fall had started, and Halloween was coming close. No way she was going to dress up as anything and run around houses for candy. That was the kids job!  
Once inside the car, Lucy grabbed the wheel and smiled at Gru. "A'right sir." she spoke in Gru's accent. "Let's get dis over vith."  
"Ha ha." Gru grimaced. "So funny."

As soon as they arrived the store, Gru jumped out of the car and helped Lucy to exit the Little blue vehicle. Noticing that standing up was a struggle now that she was that big already, he was always cautious and alert when she was having issues. Lucy gladly accepted his hand to pull herself up, closing the door behind her and locking it.  
"Aright- vhat du yu think, which color shuld the room be? Light blue, yellow? Or jus' a simple white?"  
He knew they should rather discuss that inside the store, but there was that certain excitement inside him that made him go a bit giddily. It made her laugh and she grabbed his hand. "I think yellow would be nice. You know, it fits with the rest of the house. Oh, and we could have black details! There's something about babies easier seeing simple symbols in black and white, but white is so... blank." She hated simple coloring's, she wanted colors, everywhere. Funny how things she hated in her own clothing style was exactly what she found so special with her boyfriend, he really fit in his greyscale wardrobe. Walking into the store, she at once looked up in the ceiling, looking for the sign telling them where the paint department was.  
Gru followed her inside, holding her hand like he was demonstrating clearly that she belonged to him. Just a little matter of his attitude, but however, holding gently to her fingers, he led them through the store into the paint department, eyes roaming around the vats of wall paint.  
"Yellow it is dhen..." He smiled at her, letting go of her hand to pick up the right color. He didn't expect it to be that heavy, but he grinned at her as if nothing was wrong. " Yu think dis one fits...?" He asked with a cramped voice. "Or shall we take dhe one vith dhe orange highlights?"  
"That one is perfect", Lucy giggled. "But let me at least carry something. I can take the brushes!"

"Gru?" Lucy turned around to see a blonde woman. She had seen the lady before, after all, she lived just up the street and was the mother of one of Edith's classmates, but she had never been introduced to the woman. She walked up towards them, completely ignoring Lucy for the moment. Being the size she was in now, that was quite an accomplishment. "Gru, hiii!"- "Ugh!"  
Lucy stared up at him and whispered. "You know her?"  
"Yeah, unfortunately." Jillian jumped up to them, grinning like an idiot and Gru would have thrown the ten pounds heavy bucket at her to scare her away, but he decided to drop it for a second and to approach Lucy, placing his hand on her shoulder to pull her slightly in his direction. She didn't mean danger to her, but he wanted to avoid any complications."What a funny coincidence, you, here, in this store? How funny, you're here to buy new turf as well? Ahahha!" And then she let out that terrible, shrill laughter that made Gru cringe slightly.  
"Ugh! Lucy, uh...dat is Jillian, my neighbor. Jillian, dis is Lucy, my-"  
"Oh?" Jillian stopped right away with approaching them with eager happiness and stared at the redhead woman with the big belly, who apparently belonged to Gru. "Lucy, huh? Gru's new babysitter for the kids, hmm?"  
"No, Jillian - she's my gurlfriend!"  
"Girlfriend, huh...?" The sudden tone in her voice changed into a suspicious sound, eyeing Lucy skeptically.  
"Well yeah, we've been dating for a year? You've seen me picking the girl up from school?" Lucy reached out a hand, which Jillian accepted with a weary eye. Lucy noticed that the hand was vague, not even grasping around her hand.  
"Well yes, but I simply assumed you were babysitting his daughters." Lucy laughed from the misunderstanding.  
"Madam, I am working above Gru at our office. I love the girls, but I'm not the stay at home-type."  
"I see." The blonde woman looked down at the belly. "Pardon me for asking, but you used to be slimmer?" Lucy looked over at Gru before she answered, patting a hand over her belly. "Yeah. We're expecting. In just over two month in fact. We're here to get stuff for the nursery." The woman looked even more confused.  
"Wow, Gru! I would never have thought! Congratulations!" She clung to his arm and Gru made a face that showed pure disgust, making Lucy smile. This woman must really be getting on his nerves. "So, when did you get married?"  
"We're not."  
"Beg your pardon?"  
"We're not married. This all was a bit unexpected, so we're taking it one thing at a time." Lucy shifted her eyes towards her partner, afraid this was going to cause a scene. Jillian's smile that she tried to keep on her face all the time through vanished with Lucy's last words and Gru's hand traveled down to gently grab hers, so they could leave anytime. "Wow, uhm-I'm sorry but I think I am not really getting it yet." Jillian shook her head. "You two are having a baby - before you're married?"

"Jillian, we explained it often enough to yu, okay?" Gru answered back, bluntly. "O-oh, yes sure, uh-really no marriage? Not even a proposa-"  
"_**NOT**_ married!" Gru hissed back. He was really close about to snap, but he didn't want to make Lucy uncomfortable, she hated it when he was being snappy with people. "Ohh, well, ehehe." she chuckled nervously, trying to raise a new topic.  
"I was just wondering, it's not...common...to see couples expecting without being married, ahah. You know, just think about if people start to gossip, that would be flagrant!" She gave both of them a brief glance, before again falling back into her always happy state she chuckled around and patted Gru's shoulders like they were good friends but Gru recoiled slightly, creasing his face.  
"Good job, Papa! Ahaha!" - "Yeah..." he hissed between clenched teeth, narrowing his eyes.  
"Aw anyway, that belly is gorgeous, Lucy! May Auntie Jillian give it a gentle little caress?"  
And without waiting for permission, she already extended her arms. Still being quick on her feet, Lucy jumped to the side, away from the woman's hand. "N-No, I'd prefer not you know."  
"Aw, come on, don't be such a bore." The woman reached out her hand again, but out of reaction, Lucy grabbed it, twisted her wrist so Jillian spun around, and backed away a second time.  
"Ow! What the heck was that for!" Lucy felt her face stiffen, controlling herself to not shout.  
"I don't like people touching me. My pregnant belly isn't a written invitation."  
"Lucy, stop..." Gru dragged Lucy away from their neighbor.  
"You know, most people are happy when they're pregnant and glad to share this gift with the rest around them." Lucy was just about to snap that she didn't want to be pregnant in the first place, but stopped herself. It would have caused more drama, and she didn't really know if she could trust this woman. "Well, the only ones allowed to touch me like that is my family and my doctor. You are neither. It was nice talking to you, but I need to go and get brushes now. Good day." With a quick glance at Gru, she walked away from the scene and started looking on the shelves for the roll-ons to waint walls with.

That last comment really got to her, but she bit her lip. She could break down at home when nobody but Gru and the girls were looking. Not here in the middle of the store. She wasn't like most pregnant women. She wasn't as happy about it as people expected, she wasn't as flamboyant about it. She simply wasn't that grateful about it because it wasn't something she had asked for in the first place. But this was the first time she actually felt like she didn't _**deserve**_ it.  
Watching as Lucy turned around to walk off, Gru looked after her, worried about her. About to follow, he cast a last dark glare at Jillian and hissed:  
"I hope yu're happy now!"

Around the corner he found Lucy, looking for the roll-ons. She was mad. In any kind of way. And something told him that she wasn't simply sad because Jillian said these kind of words, after all Lucy was a confident girl and sticks and stones may break her bones, but words would never hurt her -right? "Wow, dat was more dhan awkward!" he hissed, joining Lucy and gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "Dun't feel bad, she deserved it. If yu wuldn't have done it, I wuld have. Hehe..." he chuckled, a bit nervously, hoping to soften her mood a bit. "...Lucy, uh...are yu a'right?"  
Lucy didn't look at him. she felt horrible. She felt like the worst person on this earth.  
"I'm fine", Lucy commented without looking him in the eye. She picked the roll-ons, a handle and the spatula-things and put them in a basket and walked on, not slowing down. She just wanted to get home now. "I just want to get this done, alright? I think I'm starting to get a headache." It was a darn straight lie and she didn't expect him to buy it, but if she told the truth, she would start crying. Still not looking up at her boyfriend, she picked the last pieces of sandpaper and base coloring and headed to the cashier.  
"That should cover it. If we're being quick at the grocery shop, we'll escape the big rush of shoppers."  
Gru nodded. He may had that lack of comprehension of others feelings, but he was certain that Lucy just quickly wanted to go home.  
She was done...

They quickly payed and he carried the buckets back to the car, stuffing the rest into the cars trunk. He didn't speak a lot, mostly because she was probably irritated. It was hard to read her sometimes, because either she was simply mad with him or Jillian, or she was close about to break down.  
Lucy already sat back in the car, her arms folded over her belly. Oddly, she was not on her actual side - apparently she wanted him to drive. Without questioning it, he sat down on the drivers side, closing the door to look at her. Oh gosh, her eyes were literally flooded with tears, ready to break and fall over her face.  
"Honey..." he said, softly, placing his hand on her cheek.  
"I feel so horrible." she sobbed, giving in to her tears. "I feel like the most horrible mother on this earth. I always act like...like i don't want this pregnancy, or this baby. You were right back then - you were right. I am ungrateful."  
Gru did't say a word, he just pulled her close to his and hugged her tightly while she sobbed into his chest.  
"I don't deserve your child. I don't- i don't deserve you. You are so nice and caring and lovingly to me and the baby, and - i see it as nothing i could ever love."  
"Lucy..." he gently stroked her head. "Yu deserve yur baby. Yu deserve it so much." - "Gru, i-I love this child. I love it so much, because it's yours. There is no one on this earth i would rather have a baby with than you."  
Gru brushed her tears away, tilting her head up to look at him. "And dhere is no one on dis earth i wuld radher have a baby vith dhan yu, Lucy."

They spend minutes, maybe hours in the car, holding each other, and she was so happy she had him by her side. She would be so helpless without him. She couldn't endure having a baby without its father. But he was there, he always was so patient with her - and he wasn't patient usually.  
After a few moments of silence, Gru spoke again: "Dun't worry about vhat Jillian says, she's an ignorant person. She always had been...like dat."  
Looking at her with slightly worried eyes, he smiled weakly. "She wun't ever bodher yu again, l'll make sure of dis...okay?"  
"You know, a former villain saying that is kinda worrying." She burst out in laughter. "I'm teasing, just kidding!"  
She felt a kick again. Gently, she took one of his hands and placed it on her belly. "I love you Gru, I love Margo, Edith and Agnes, and I love Robin. I don't love Robin any less just because of how it started, alright? I am just waiting to give birth now so the pregnant part is over and done with."  
"Jus' two more months, honey. And dhen yu can hold yur baby."  
"Our baby." she corrected and smiled at him.

...

"Come on now, lets get down to business, shall we?" He nodded towards the door. "Dhe nursery wun't clean out itself."  
Gru held his hand out for her, and she took it, walking with him upstairs. He carried the bags and the paint, up to the room tha was gonna be Robin's nursery in future, stopping in front of the dark door.  
"Jus' a warnin'- it's pretty full." and with that, he opened the little chamber.  
Walking into the spare room, she was amazed at the mess. She couldn't even see the wall on the other side!  
"Whoah, am I gonna find the Half Blood Prince's diary in here? Or maybe Narnia?" She looked over at her boyfriend with a grin. "I've lived here for half a year and I never knew of this! What's in here? Haven't you thrown away anything since the seventies?"Gru grinned at her. "Well, livin' vith three kids who like me to buy new stuff monthly but aren't fond of me throwin' away anythin' can become a problem sometimes." He shrugged, taking out some dollhouse that Agnes used but now she was tired of it. She reached up her arms to grab the tricycle. "You know, with a new coat of paint, this will be great for Robin in a few years. Lets put it in the attic, we don't need to sell it yet." - "Mhm-hm, good idea. How about we put all dhe stuff we dun't need anymore on one side and all dhe stuff we culd use someday on dhe odher? I'll take dhem out and yu decide, hm?"

"That sounds perfect." Lucy was already puffed out from taking the tricycle, and leaned against the doorframe for stability. She already saw things she wanted to trow out: Broken toys, stuffed animals that Kyle had ripped to pieces. But also things to keep. A bag contained all of Agnes clothes from her first year living with Gru, when she was just a toddler. They would fit perfect in a few years and just needed a place in the attic. Most of Edith's clothes were so torn they could cut them to pieces to use for repairing other clothes.  
"Gru, are you planning on taking paternity leave?" she suddenly asked. something struck her mind - she was going to be stuck here for the next few months as well, with breastfeeding until the baby was ready to eat other food.  
He dug through the stacks of toys and clothes and other supplies and sometimes he held something up, smiling at it, apparently indulging in memories...  
"Gru, honey?"- "Hm? Oh..!" Gru quickly threw the bags of Ediths torn, dirty and bitten clothes outside on the stack of things they could likely throw out.  
"I doubt dat Silas wuld be happy about leavin' both of his best agents on a hiatus, but yes, I am plannin' to! And as soon as yu feel ready to get back to work, I can take care of Robin."  
"Y-You mean - you'll say home while I go to work, and on missions, and -"  
Gru gave her a frown. "Well, not really missions, but - you know, work!"  
"Well, yes i thought so." Not even saying a word, feeling like she was gonna burst from happiness, Lucy hugged him.  
"Oh! This is gonna be great! I mean I'll stay at home until Robin won't need to eat all the time, and then I can get back to work! I miss solo missions, I really do. You won't mind staying at home then with all of the girls and Robin?"  
A bit surprised over Lucy happiness and the sudden hug, he cringed, but his face lit up instantly when he saw her beaming at him. He hugged her back, softly stroking over her hair. "Nah!" he answered, shaking his head slowly after she let go of his lips. "Dhey barely see me anyway. And I guess after dat mission, I'll be jus' happy to be home...and as soon as robin is old enough, I'm gonna join yu on yur missions again?"  
"Yes!" Lucy nodded eagerly, and they hugged once again.  
"Lucy?" -"Yes?"  
"Lucy, yu think...I mean...are yu sure yu really wanna stay here? Vith me and dhe gurls? I-I know yu kinda see us as our family already, and we're really happy to have yu here,but uh..." He shrugged. He couldn't remember he ever really asked her if she was happy here, with him and his kids...  
Lucy smiled at him, resting her palm on his face.  
"Oh Gru - I am happy here. And I want to stay. For us, for the girls, and for their little sibling they'll have soon. We might not be married Gru, but we are just as much together without any rings, and we've having a baby together. It's not just about me, it's about us as a family." Falling silent, she looked at him, his face being lit by the sunlight outside trough the window. His emotion-filled face expressions were so complicated and beautiful. She couldn't wait to see his eyes when he got to hold their baby for the first time. Gru glanced down on her belly, his palms resting on the bulge and once more he felt the life inside her moving an kicking gently and being so active it gave his heart a little sting. Looking back at her, he smiled warmly, cupping her cheek with one hand and nudging his forehead against hers. He didn't say anything for a long while but simply stared back into Lucy's precious green eyes. She gave up so much, just for him - her favorite activities, her freedom, her former life, even her own body. If there was anything he just could do to give it all back to her, to see her smile forever... They had hard times and good times and yet she stayed. Yet she saw him and the girls as her family. And they needed her just as much as she needed them.  
He repressed some awkward words that swirled inside his head, he just moved closer, one hand gently rubbing over her belly, the other resting on her cheek and stroking his thumb gently over her freckles.

"I love yu..."  
"Oh Gru, i love you too. To the moon and back?"  
"To dhe moon and back."  
The previous pain and tears were forgotten completely.


	9. Reunion

Lucy stopped writing for a moment, putting a hand over her belly.  
There it was again. A pang of pain, and her muscles cramping together.  
First she had thought it would fade away with the time, some usual false alarm. She had a few Braxton Hiccups last week already, and they went away after a few minutes. She panicked so much she called Gru, and just while they were speaking, the fake-contractions faded away. No reason to go and spook him again. So Lucy shook her head and continued typing on her computer.  
But then it was there again. These terrible cramps, her abdomen hurt like hell it cut off her breathing for a second.  
"Oh no ! " she gasped, for this time she was sure it was not a fake. It was too soon, she was due in three weeks! Fear bubbled up inside her and with some effort, she got herself up and walked towards the door. She needed help. She needed to inform Silas ! When she got out into the hallway, she felt her body cramp again. This was way too scary. She rushed over to the door of her director, and knocked. Silas opened the door to see Lucy holding her big belly with a stressed face. "Ms Wilde? Is something wrong?"  
"I think the baby is coming !"

...

An hour later, Lucy was laying in the bed at the hospital department of the AVL, hooked up to measurement devices.  
"I can't believe I paniced over a false alarm _again!_ "  
"Now now miss Wilde, that false alarm was pretty legit, nothing to worry about."  
"I spooked you."  
"I think you spooked everyone when you collapsed to your knees. Bloodsugar better?"  
"Yeah, I got some chocolate. So, what now?"  
"You get to stay at home, where you can rest. You're off from now on. I'll call Mr. Gru, he needs to stay the weekend and then we'll bring him home earlier." Lucy nodded. She would hate to tell the girls their dad wasn't coming home tomorrow, but if it meant that he got to get home from the mission earlier and be with them, it would make them more happy. Lucy saw her director picking up his cellphone and dial the number to her boyfriend before he sneaked out of the room.  
In the meantime, Gru was sitting in his hotelroom in Spain, his headset on, guarding the group of new recruits through the house they were going to invade.

"A'right boys, at dhe left side of dhe house is dhe door to dhe cellar, dhey store winebottles in dhere. It's never locked, so yu'll have a good chance to get inside dhe house through dis door." Gru was sitting in front of his laptop, the phone on his ear and staring at the slowly spinning 3D-model of the house the troupe of three agents was going to invade. It seemed to be already evening in Europe, however, he could hear the other agents activating the nightsight of their fiberglass goggles. Today was the day they were going to catch the subjects and Gru sat on his little laptop from 6 am in the morning until now. "From dhere on yu'll reach dhe south wing, take care of dhe-"  
A beeping sound appeared in his ear, telling him that somebody else was trying to reach him a the moment.  
"Mister Gru, what did you say? Take care of the...?"  
"Uh, sorry guys, hang on a minute."  
He answered the other call, making sure the Agents wouldn't listen to him.

"Yeah?"  
"Mister Gru?"  
Gru frowned. Silas? What was it now...?  
"Mister Ramsbottom, dhe boys are on dheir guards, I made sure dhey are equipped vith dhe fiberglass goggles and dhe-"  
"Mister Gru, that is not why I'm calling." he said in a firm voice and Gru frowned another time. "Miss Wilde had a false alarm."  
"...False alarm?" he asked, not quite understanding what he was talking about.  
"Vhat du yu mean vith false ala-OH!" he jumped off his bed, widening his eyes and his body tensed. "I-is she okay? D-did anythin' happen?"  
"She is fine! She's in the hospital wing, had a bit of a blood sugar drop, but she's resting and is getting something to eat. She'll stay in bed for the rest of the day and we will drive her home in time to meet your daughters after school." Siles looked trough the window in the door. The pregnant Agent was drumming her fingers, clearly bored and wanted to get up and about again.  
Gru let out a relieved sigh. She was alright, and that was all that mattered for him. Dropping back on the bed, he looked on the ground, his heart pounding loudly, but a load was lifted off his mind. For the first time in his life, Gru was glad Silas called him to tell him such news. Of course, he would have hurried to be with her in time before she would eventually give birth, yet he doubted that it was a good idea to leave the other agents planless in the nowhere when they were about to catch the villains.  
"She's is being put on vacation now Mr Gru, her body needs to rest for the baby to not be born premature. I can't believe I'm asking this of you, but please, stay over the weekend. If you can crack the case now, we can bring you home earlier and stay with her until it's due."  
"I'll hurry...dhe boys are prepared to get dhe subjects, and I'll make sure dhey'll be back on monday..." he murmured into the phone.  
"Please...can I talk to her for a second?"

"Absolutely Mr Gru, just hold on." Silas stepped back into the room and reached his phone towards Lucy. "Your partner wants to have a word with you." Lucy grabbed the phone carefully and put it towards her ear. "Hello, Gru?"

"Lucy..." he clung to the phone, glad to hear her voice that calm and . "Honey, how are yu? Is everythin' okay? Vh-vhat happened?"  
He heard the nagging sound of the beep in his ear, the other agents wanted to get him back to coordinate him, but he didn't care for them.  
"Silas told me yur bloodsugar dropped. Have yu forgotten to eat somethin'?"  
I guess I kind of forget the time and haven't eaten lunch yet, yeah.", Lucy explained, blushing over her being a scatterbrain.  
"Oh Lucy..." he sighed, but smiled. He knew he couldn't run around and watch over her like a kindergarten kid, she wouldn't even allow that from him. But if he wasn't that glad she was okay, he would have told her that she should take better care of her eating-habits in future to avoid the previous events. " But everythin' is fine, right?"  
"Everything is fine, I'm fine, Robin's fine, I'm mostly just being bored. I just thought... that I was going into labor. Feels kind of shameful really that I don't know my body enough to know it was a false alarm." she chuckled.  
"Sweetheart, it's okay...dun't feel bad. Jus' be glad dat it was jus' a false alarm."  
He leaned against the big, fluffy pillows.  
"So, Silas told you to stay the weekend? When will you be home?"  
"Yeah, I gotta stay over saturday and sunday, but-good news are we're pretty sure we'll catch dhe guys dis evening, or tomorrow. We'll be back on monday."  
He looked outside the window. It was snowing...winter was upon them and he smiled softly.  
the beeping sound just started to get on his nerves.  
"Sorry Lucy, I gotta go now, dhe odher agents need my assistance. I'll call yu dis evenin'!"  
"Bye, baby - and good luck !"  
And with that, Lucy ended the call and sighed, rubbing her belly. the baby was sleeping apparently, it wasn't moving. "For a while i thought you was gonna slip out before it's time, Robin." she talked to her unborn child and laughed softly. "You gotta wait a few more weeks, until Daddy is back home - then you can come out." a small kick was the only reaction she got.

...

Back home, Lucy sat at the kitchen table, a basket of fruits and champagne standing on it. A little gift from the AVL to make her feel better. Lucy sighed. She just really hoped the last few weeks of this pregnancy would be over soon. It was not like she hated being pregnant, but she was just exhausted. her belly had grown terribly big and heavy. She was already in her last trimester, eight months and four weeks. Just as she had assumed - she was nearly incapable to do anything. She couldn't pick up Agnes anymore, she couldn't bend or sit without being slowly and having troubles to do so. And these false alarms. Ugh. Robin was stirring inside her slightly. She patted her belly and hoped Robin would settle without hitting her bladder again.  
How she missed having Gru here. Something in his touch was magical, for each time Robin was particularly active, his hand on her belly settled the baby within seconds. A smile cracked her features. He was such a great father to the girls, and she was sure he was going to be a wonderful Dad to the newborn. She still wasn't sure if she even mastered to treat the kids right. But Gru and they have assured her a lot that she was the best mommy they could dream of.

Speaking of the devil, the door opened and the three kids came back home from school.  
"You think Lucy is back from work already?"  
"I don't think so, she said she always takes longer to -oh!"  
The three of them had turned to walk to the kitchen, only to see Lucy with her cup of tea and the basket of fruits on the table.  
"Hey guys." - "Lucy, uh - hi! Didn't you say you had to work today."  
"Yes, guys, uhm...but i had a false alarm at work."  
"A false alarm ?!" the kids gasped. "Girls, it's fine. It just frightened me a bit, but we're okay." she patted her belly. "You guys want the fruits? I can't eat them, you know i get sick of them."  
The three nodded shyly, before they grabbed the basked to fish out the apples and oranges and pears, but they left the champagne unattended.  
They knew Lucy wouldn't like to eat any fruits, she avoided them ever since she got pregnant. Sitting next to Lucy, they talked about their day at school, and also Lucy informed them about Gru coming home a week later, and his mission would be over soon.

In the meantime, Edith didn't take her eyes off of lucy's belly it was frighteningly big by now, and the way lucy clung to everything she could grasp by now while walking, it must be very heavy.

"Does it hurt...?" asked Edith, looking at Lucy's gigantic belly. She couldn't even comprehend how some tiny baby was even taking that much space.  
"It looks so heavy, and you keep clinging to stuff while walking..."  
"Oh Edith, it doesn't hurt, don't worry. I'm tired though, it IS heavy. I can't walk around a lot, I need to take breaks and walk slow and I can't move my upper body without getting out of balance if I'm too fast. It's also hard to bend down and stuff, so thank you very much for the help." Lucy set the time for when the food was going to be ready and slowly waddled over to the girls, setting herself down.  
"When will you give birth to Robin?" asked Margo. "It's not much longer anymore, is it?"'  
"Yeah, it's not long time left at all now, I'm in my ninth month now. Robin is actually due exactly three weeks and five days from now. Allthough, it could happen sooner, it could happen later. I want you to be prepared on that when it happens, you need to listen to me and Gru and not start any fights. We will need to get to the hospital and depending on how fast it goes, we can be in a hurry and be very stressed. So if me or Gru is crying or shouting at you, just remember that it's not that we're mad at you, we're just very nervous and need things to go as smoothly as possible." she smiled at her daughters, exhausted from carrying that huge belly for nine months already. By now, she was just happy to give birth to her little baby. What seemed so frightening all these months, was now like an anticipated salvation.  
The kids suddenly were scared. Their teacher told them some things about a birth, and how a baby comes to live, but now that they realized it was that close until the baby would be there, they started to become both excited and nervous. "Three weeks?" Margo beamed at Edith and Agnes and could see they were a bit creeped out.  
"Edith, we'll have a little sibling in less than 30 days!" - "I know, i can count on my own." Edith rolled her eyes.

"Will Gru be done with the mission then?" asked Agnes, a bit worried. She turned towards Agnes and grabbed her small hands. "Gru will be there. He'll come home this weekend, and then he'll just be gone for one more week, and then the mission is finished. That sounds lovely, right?"

Agnes hugged Lucy's tummy, it was hard to actually hug Lucy herself, but she was simply in love with that belly the first time she told them she was pregnant.  
"Okay, as long as Gru will be there for you...we promise we won't be a bother for you when it's time, right?"  
"We won't." Margo crossed her heart. "I'll make sure they'll behave."  
For a few moments none of them spoke a word, until Agnes looked up at the redhead.  
"Lucy? I uh...I still have fingerpaint upstairs. I'd love to draw something on you belly and take a photo so i can show it to the minions and Gru when he's back home."  
She smiled at her.  
"Please...it wouldn't be much, just a rainbow, or a unicorn..."  
"Oh? Well... hehe, okay Agnes, I think we could do that. You go and get the paint, and I'll go and sit." She had let the girls hold her belly all the time, but this was a bit different, so, naked. But she wouldn't deny them this opportunity while her belly was still big. Agnes cheered and jumped off her seat to run upstairs and get the paint, followed by edith. Going to the living room, she sat herself on the floor, leaning her back against the crocodile couch and pulled up her shirt over the bulge, wedging it in under her breasts. Margo sat next to her, and with an insecure look towards her, she gently caressed her belly. "Is Robin awake?" she whispered. "Gru told me they are moving a lot." Lucy chuckled and watched Margo's hands. "Actually, to be correct, Robin is always asleep. As long as the foster is inside of the mother, it stays asleep, but has two states. Passive and active sleep. But no, Robin seems to be sleeping right now, haven't moved for an hour at least." Just as she said that, Robin gave a firm kick straight into Margo's hand and started to move around. There wasn't much space left to move around in, but Robin sure tried. Margo flinched when she felt the baby suddenly giving a strong kick inside her palm and she stared back at Lucy before a faint laughter of surprise escaped her lips."Oh my gosh!" she gasped. "It kicked right in my hand!"Placing it back on the place she had left, she felt movements inside her. Declining movements, but Robin was quite active now. Lucy laughed with Margo, falling silent a few seconds later. It felt a bit strange. Good, but strange, to have her belly exposed without any fabric for someone else but Gru. Her skin had stretch marks on the sides, which she hated, they were pale and would never come off. It was just so large, she would never have guessed it would grew to this size. "How are you feeling about all of this? Nervous?"

"Yeah, well-not really nervous. More excited." she said.  
"I once was at some nice family that took care of me for a couple of weeks, they were also expecting a baby. But I never dared to touch her belly or talk much about it, but she told me a lot about having a baby. She was...quite similar to you, in fact..." she started to mutter. "Nice and...and strong and cool and...just special..."  
Lucy's heart swelled with love for the eldest of the three kids. Oh Margo - her little, strong, wonderful Margo. She seemed to drift away from the topic, so she glanced back at her. "How about you? I guess you'll be happy when it's over, huh?"

"Oh yea, I am happy once it's over. Don't get me wrong, this is really cool, but I miss all the fun stuff I used to do. And I don't like how big and heavy my body is. I miss running. I miss missions, I miss action." Robin kicked some more, and then calmed down again.  
"But Margo, if you feel that you want to talk, or if you just want to sit and listen to the belly, just tell me. You shouldn't be afraid of talking to me, I'm you mom, right? Sure, I haven't signed on any adoption papers, but I want you to be able to talk to me about anything."Margo could imagine Lucy would miss all the great activities, but...bearing a child was such a big deal to other women. They loved their round belly, loved that they were going to have a baby - some even have the desire to be back in that form right after the baby was born. But Lucy didn't. She was glad when she was done with the pregnancy, and somehow, he could hear her.  
She moved closer to Lucy, smiling at her words and resting her head against her shoulder. Hugging would be a bit difficult, so she simply held onto her arm.  
"I know...Thanks Lucy-"  
"I found the fingerpaint!" Agnes proudly held up the colorful tiny buckets as she returned into the living room. Lucy and margo jumped from Agnes sudden loud voice.  
She jumped onto the couch, next to Lucy and her sister, examining the bare skin of her belly.  
"Lucy...what are these?" she suddenly said, pointing at the thin lines running along her body.  
"They weren't there before...!"

"That's stretch marks Agnes. You can get them from many things, it's when your body grows quicker than your skin can follow. Some people get it when they gain weight, bodybuilders get them if they build muscles to fast, and many women get them on their bellies when they're pregnant. Even when Robin is born, I'll always have them, just like a scar." She had always admired her scars she had from missions. But these... felt embarrassing. She was proud over managing this, but a scar for walking around and being a babyvessel for nine months was just not as impressive as fighting against five villains at once, or something.  
Agnes drew her fingers along the scars with admiration. They looked hurtful, but Lucy seemed to be fine. "I think they don't look that bad." She replied. "You could say you fought a tiger and you beat him, but he left these scars on you belly, and you can-"  
She paused her fantasy and looked back at Lucy, with Margo resting against the redhead, exhausted from the day. Both were laughing loudly over Agnes ideas.  
"Well - yes i could! And everybody would say ' behold, Lucy Wilde fought a gigantic tiger while carrying a child." She mused. "So, what do you want to draw?"  
"Oh, uh... Lets start with Mister Fluffy!" She picked white and pink paint, dipped her finger inside and started to draw on Lucy's belly. "Is that okay? If it hurts you gotta tell me!" - "It doesn't hurt at all honey, go right ahead!" - "Can you close your eyes? so it's gonna be a surprise for you."  
And with a smile and a slight roll of her eyes, Lucy held her hands before her face.

about ten minutes later, the kids asked her to follow them to the mirror so she could have a look at it.  
"Okay, open your eyes now!" Agnes said. And Lucy did. Her belly was covered in blue paint, white paint and something round and yellow - a sky with a sun. Beneath on something green, probably grass, sat a grey unicorn with a scarf, next to a red unicorn - and in between sat a little miniature horse in purple, around were three kittens in green, blue and pink. Lucy threw her hands to her mouth.  
"Girls, this is..." - "It's from the story you told us." Edith explained. "See? This is robin." they pointed at the baby-horse. Lucy smiled at them with tears in her eyes. They were such wonderful girls. Daughters. And sisters... she couldn't have asked for better siblings for her baby.

...

Turning around the key in the keyhole, he opened the door - but oddly, nobody was there to welcome him home.  
"Hello...?" he asked insecurely.  
"Lucy? Gurls?"  
"Gru!"  
He heard hasty footsteps from the stairs and he saw the little girl approaching him, worry in her eyes.  
"Agnes, vhat is wrong? Vhere are dhe odhers?"  
"Upstairs! Lucy is in the bathroom, she didn't feel so good, all day long."  
"Vhat?! D-did she say somethin' about labour pain? Or did she tell yu to call de ambulance?"  
"No, she just said she felt very dizzy and now she's sitting for hours in the bathtub."  
Still worried, he dropped the back, picked Agnes up and made his way quickly to the stairs to meet Margo halfway.  
"Gru, Gru, relax - she's fine, just another false alarm!" she spoke to her gather and he stopped, looking at her and once more, he felt his heart dropping from relief.  
"Thank goodness..." he muttered. "Agnes, Margo, Edith - yu go and look vhat i got for yu in my bag downstairs, okay? I'll go and speak to Lucy."  
The girls left quickly and Gru approached the door to the bathroom, gently knocking on before opening the door.  
"Lucy...hon, is everythin' okay?"  
"Oh? Hey Gru, you're back!" Lucy's cheeks pulled her into a smile. She patted the water a bit with her hands, her belly poking out of the water like an island in the ocean. It was cold by now, but she enjoyed the levitating relief of the water taking her weight.  
"Everything's fine, I've just been achy today and I got some pre-contractions. They've calmed down now, but I just haven't felt like getting up again. I pretty much went to take a bath as soon as the girls got back from school, so I knew I had somebody to call for. Did everything go fine? The bad guys are caught now? You're staying home?"  
Gru closed the door behind him and knelt down next to her, brushing his hand over her forehead. She looked exhausted.  
He didn't know either he should be terribly worried or just happy to be with her now, so he decided to stay positive over the situation."Si senora, dhe bad guys are under lock and key. I can stay home for dhe rest of dhe year. I'm jus' glad I'm done vith it, now i dun't need to be worried dat i wuldn't be present if anythin' happens."  
He leaned in to kiss her temple, gently caressing her up-popping belly. The last week, Gru just hoped to be, well, home - ever since Lucy had her false alarm, he was scared and restless. She noticed it too. Her hand slowly emerged from the water and caressed his cheek. "I'm glad you're home..." she whispered. "I was scared you wouldn't come home in time." - "I wuld have moved mountains to be vith yu vhen it's time." Gru promised softly, and they smiled, Lucy cupping his face, his hand over her belly and her head, they stared at each other with affectionate glances, like they always did when they were alone.  
"Hey, mind if I join?" he asked with a trail of mild cockiness in his voice. Lucy chuckled, and then made a ' come hither' motion with her finger.

Pulling out his sweater, he threw it over the chair next to the sink.  
Actually, he was quite curious how these contrations were even feeling like, on the other side, he knew that it wasn't that funny when you had labor pain. Lucy complained often enough when she had her 'ladies days', and after reading they felt similar to labor, he was glad to be a man.  
Getting rid of his pants as well, he carefullyclimbed inside, sitting behind her, so she could lean against him. Lucy sighed happily, leaning her head against his chest.  
"Gosh...I'm really glad I'm back home...really crept me out, dhese false alarm of yurs back dhen." he said. "Yeah, they creep me out too", Lucy said and put his hands over her giant belly, sorrowfully tracing the stretch marks when sinking her hands down in the water. The tub filled itself slowly with warm, relaxing water and the white fluffy foam surrounded them, and Gru felt all the stress dropping from him, sitting here with Lucy, save and sound, and finally he could be with her, waiting for Robin to be born. His hands held onto her belly, caressing it gently and with eager admiration. It now was really really big - nothing compared to the last few months. He still remembered the time he was so giddy over it growing to be just a handful. Lucy twitched when she felt another, very small cramp rushing through her, but she knew, it wasn't serious. "My muscles start to cramp and I really think 'this is it' and I think I need to get to the hospital. But then it goes a bit and I notice that they are not in rythm at all, they just happen a little bit now and then. Real contractions increase in time every time, and these, just don't." She looked up to his face.  
"Thank you for getting home. I've missed you. Now I know you'll be here for when it happens."  
He glanced down at her with a warm smile, kissing the top of her head, lovingly rubbing over the skin of her stomach. "I'll always be dhere for yu, Lucy." he answered, feeling Robin moving inside her and Lucy gave a small sigh, leaning into him more, feeling so safe and sound, so peacefully here with him in the water, his hands holding onto their unborn baby...

"You know, first, I really thought I was going to be alone. I've never had any long relationships, just a few months here and there, and never one where I felt I could have a baby in." She sank herself deeper into his chest. "And when you got mad at me, I was sure that was it. I was sure you would leave me and never want to talk to me again. And now I'm here, living with you, expecting our child, viewing the girls as mine and they call me mom sometimes when they slip. Talk about committed relationship, hey?"

Gru listened to her words, here and there a sigh escaped his chest, stroking her belly with loving hands, watching the water flowing with each of their movements...  
Indeed, he had tried to suppress that memory, how he snapped and yelled at her, that they would go separated way from there on...  
He said a lot of things when he was seriously mad and disappointed.  
"Lucy...I'm sorry vhat happened. Yu shuld know, dat even if yu wuld have aborted Robin, I'd still have talked to yu. I'd still have loved yu dhe same..."  
His head craned down to nuzzle his forehead into the crook of her shoulder, pulling her closer, at least as close as possible. And Lucy raised her arms to loop them around his neck.  
As much as he was happy about them having a baby together and living together, he was glad the girls considered her as their mother...  
"Yu have no idea how happy I'm about all of dis...startin' dhe day I fell in love vith yu."  
Giving her neck some soft kisses, he smiled against her skin. "I'm happy too. I'm happy for being in this family. I'm happy that the only child I am ever going to carry, that you fathered them. I can't imagine a more loving and wonderful dad than you."

"Hmhm..." Gru chuckled softly against her hair, having his eyes closed and his hands still lingered on her belly. " And can't imagine a more lovin' and wonderful modher dhan yu."  
Now after all the time he reminded himself about it, he questioned himself: Was he ready for raising a baby? Agnes was a toddler when he adopted her, nothing compared to a small living person that wasn't ale to do anything without his and Lucys help.  
It would be much work, but...he couldn't wait until their little offspring was officially a part of the family.

"Gru, Lucy? Are you okay in there?"  
Gru cringed a bit, and the silence was disturbed by his movement stirring up the water.  
"A-A-Ehh...Everythin's a'right honey, dun't worry." he called back.  
"Oh..okay! Gru, Edith won't give me back my gift you brought us, she says she rather wants to have the turtleninja with the red mask."  
"I don't want the blue one!" Edith retorted.  
"Gurls, come on, please, we vant our privacy here."  
"What are you two doing inside there anyway?"  
"We're havin' a bath."  
"EWWWW!" Both shouted and Agnes started to giggle while he heard Edith running away and into her room.

Gru grinned slightly.  
"Off dhey go...!"  
"Aw, they probably think we are doing some nasty stuff in here", Lucy cooed teasingly, pressing her back against Gru, looking up in his face. Her hands found his, and she circled her belly together with him. "Grownup stuff that got us in this situation in the first place." She laughed a bit, stretched her neck and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Hehehe..." He chuckled cheekily, her fingers joining him to rub over her belly and his thumb brushed gently over her knuckles."Well, we can delay dat to later..." He winked at her, relaxing once more, hearing as the girls kept mumbling something in their room, probably still debating on which action figure they can have or not. Lucy hunched her shoulders and giggled seductively, before growing silent again. Resting his lips on the base of her ear to kiss it gently, he started to whisper lowly: "I never wuld have thought I'd have a child of my own...But I'm glad dat it'll be **_our_** baby..."  
"I'm glad too Gru, I'm glad too. I never thought so either, for mixed reasons. One was that relationships never worked for me, another was that I decided to focus on just working once I hit my mid thirties. Have you ever tried before? Finding a spouse and start a family, before you became I villain, I mean?" She played with the water, making drops drip from her fingertips onto the round belly, it was the only way of making it wet.

Moving a bit in his spot, trying to find a comfortable position, he mumbled some words, biting his lip and drowning his thoughts in shy Uh's and Hmm's.  
"Well..." he finally started. He was sure he hadn't told her about that certain one relationship with that certain little incident that he had tried to suppress.  
"I have tried it, to be honest...I-I mean, not intentionally, but...well, i was thinkin' about havin' a family on my own, way back vhen I was still quite young.  
Bach dhen I had a gurlfriend, called Maggie. She was attendin' dhe same lectures vith me, and one thing led to anodher and we became a couple, but...hm..."  
He rubbed the back of his neck.  
"I started to meet Nefario regulary, so we both happened to become villains, so dhe thought of havin' a family kinda...vanished. To dhe day Maggie told me she was pregnant, dat is. But...well...she miscarried. One week later."

He paused for a moment. "I was...racked by dat message. She blamed me for her miscarriage because I didn't support her and spent more time meetin' Nefario, and so we went our own ways. I dun't know to dhe present day vhat happened vith her, but I knew dat Nefario finally accepted me as his apprentice, and so I became a villain. And vith dat, I've lost interest in startin' a family...somehow..."  
Gru silented for a while, but he continued to run his hand over the base of her belly.  
"But I'm..actually happy it happened to become true eventually. Not necessarily by dhe time vhen I was still young and dynamic, but...eventually..."  
Smiling weakly, he paused again, looking down at Lucy.

Lucy had no idea. She would have expected him to say no, that he never had interest in children before he got the girls. That he had experienced a misscarriage before, and his girlfriend blamed him... No wonder he freaked out at getting a second chance. And she blamed him for making her pregnant when it had been their contraceptive that failed them. Robin moved around a bit, not kicking anymore since there simply wasn't any room, but you could see bulges move around whenever the baby moved.  
"Oh,honey..." she started, and tried to turn around, but her belly was simply too big to move. "I'm so sorry..."  
"It's okay..." Gru chuckled and kissed her head. "I dun't care anymore - i got yu. I got dhe gurls. And i got robin."  
Lucy chuckled, still looking at him.  
"And so do I. And i got the best boyfriend in this universe."


	10. Birth

Lucy felt her body get tense and wake her up. Opening her eyes, she saw that it was still dark outside. Rolling around in the bed, she looked over at the watch. It was three in the morning.  
"Robin, come on, let me sleep", Lucy moaned and got herself up. She knew what she had to do to against these Braxton Hickups, so she put on her slippers and walked as silently as she could out of the bedroom to get herself a cup of tea and walk the contractions off.  
She had learnt that they stopped if she moved around, unlike real contractions. She was still a week early, and wasn't planning on spooking Gru like she had done to Silas at the office.  
Getting down to the kitchen, she brewed herself a cup of tea and started to walk around in the living room. Slowly sipping on the hot fluid, she flinched when another contraction came. She looked at the watch on her wrist, timing. Fifty seconds. It lasted for fifty seconds. Continuing walking, she hoped that it would stop.  
But fifteen minutes after that, she felt it again. Her back was aching, and the next contraction came. That one also for precise fifty seconds. Going into the kitchen, she brewed herself a second cup of tea. She wasn't going to wake up Gru just yet, maybe it was a false alarm, maybe it would stop.  
But with a third contraction, fifteen minutes apart just like the previous, and lasting for exact fifty seconds, she knew.

The baby was coming.

She put down her cup and walked back up, sitting herself down on the edge of the bed, next to Gru.  
"Gru... honey?"  
Gru felt a soft hand on his shoulder, gently pushing it to wake him up. "Hmmph!" he mumbled and buried his face into the pillow. But his mind started working. It was Lucys voice. Not one of his kids, but his girlfriend.  
"Sweetheart, you're gonna be a dad today." She continued to gently rock his shoulder. "I'm in labor."  
"Uh, vhat's wrong vith dhe lab...?" Gru murmured.  
He finally got up, blinking a few seconds. He knew he would be awake within the next ten seconds, but it was weird to see her eagerly rocking his shoulder. Another false alarm?

Until he suddenly recollected her words.

_'I'm in labor.'_

Getting off his pillow at instant, he stared at her, eyes accustoming to the darkness as he saw his girlfriend's face.  
"Y-yu're in labor?" he gasped. "A-are yu sure?"  
"Pretty sure, I'm timing _-HGGN!_" She flinched again and checked her watch.  
"They're fourteen minutes apart now, and last for... hnn, fifty seconds. Gru, this is the fourth one, and they are regular, I... I think this is the real thing."  
Gru's eyes widened and he was out of the bed at instant. It was still early in the morning – yet in about an hour the kids had to go to school!  
"I-I need to call my mom, she has to take care of dhe gurls!"  
"A-And Gru? Could you call the hospital for me? I want to know if we should go to the hospital or if we should wait." She smiled towards him. She would really have wanted to be closer to the due date, but a week early wasn't bad at all.  
Placing his hands on her cheeks, he cringed a bit when the next contraction was hitting her and checked if she was fine. "O-okay, sure, I'll du dis. Look, hon, jus'...stay here and relax." She nodded, holding her belly and trying to say calm, breathing in and out as he was leaving.

Feeling her body relax again, she knew it would slowly get shorter between the contractions, she just didn't know how long it would take.  
"Well, pumpkin – you seem to choose only bad timings as well. Just like daddy." She chuckled. Through the pain and excitement and growing fear, she was also happy. This was it, their baby was on its way!  
He hurried down the stairs and quickly made his way down to the living room. Kyle was sleeping on the couch and Gru had to figure out that the green fluffy dog-creature was lying exactly on his phone. "Kyle...Kyle, kssh!" she hissed, but the dog didn't move. "Kyle, beat it, now!"  
He was still a bit afraid of the mutt, but with a jolt, he had pulled the phone from beneath the dog and quickly dialed the number of the hospital. His heart was pounding, but he tried to stay calm, for Lucy's sake.

Lucy was trying to stand up, but her back killed her. Every movement made her abdomen twitch painfully and her back too. She still had five minutes before the next contraction would hit, if it still was regular and she checked on the watch next to her whenever it was time for the next one.  
"Dhey said yu still have time, we shuld head to dhe hospital in three hours." Gru said, slightly panting as he had returned to their bedroom. "Dhey'll keep a bed free for yu."  
"Three hours?" Lucy almost gasped when the contraction hit her, and Gru hurried to help her up. She needed to walk around, coax the baby down, relax her muscles and regular her breathing.  
She hissed in pain.  
"Yu okay?" he asked worried. "Y-yes, just…another contraction. Please join me downstairs. I need to move around." Struggling, she walked out to the lit hallway and proceeded down the stairs, holding her belly while Gru had his arm beneath her shoulder to get the leverage off her feet.  
"The girls are asleep, right? We should let them sleep until it's time to go."  
"Y-yes, sure." He nodded, staying silent until they were in the living room.  
"My mom agreed, she will take care of dhem while we're in dhe hospital - and dhey shuld take dhe bus! I'm not leavin' yu at dis state."  
Lucy nodded and gulped. She hadn't had expected this to be so overwhelming. It wasn't really pain, just like somebody was forcefully pressing their fist into her lower abdomen – or the ache a woman felt while having their period. Breathing through the remaining pain, she whispered: "When should we head to the hospital…?"  
"Dhey said it'll last a bit longer until dhe contractions come a bit shorter, but we shuld stay here until yu feel dhey happen all eight or five minutes..."

His own hands shook, but he didn't care, he kept holding her and moving around with her a bit. They moved to the couch, Lucy grabbing the leather of the crocodile back while pacing around it, one hand on her big, heavy belly, the other holding onto Gru's arm, Letting gravity do its work on forcing the baby down in the right position..  
"Excited...?" he asked, trying to distract her a bit from the pain.  
"Uh-huh" she said giggling, her laughter mixed with excitement and pain. A broad smile spread over her face, looking into his blue eyes. "Yeah, very excited. It doesn't hurt too much, just feels strange. It's working on its own accord, I can't do anything."  
Gru dared to chuckle too once he saw her laugh. He led her to the kitchen to bring her some glass of water. "Well, it pretty much did dat all along, huh?"  
Lucy smiled up at him. She was just so glad he was there for her, and that he was going to witness it himself. "Oh darn, have we packed anything for the hospital?" she asked. "Uh – no…" Gru gulped. "I'll get to dis in a second, yu need to drink somethin' furst."  
"O-Okay…"

She winced when the next hit her and she grabbed the kitchen counter, sucking in the air through her nose and releasing through her mouth, steadily, to endure the pain. Gru never left her side when he gave her the water and she grabbed the glass a bit harsher than intended. She gulped down half of it in one go. Gru's hand gently ran over her back and over her belly, and he was relieved when she smiled at him.  
"I wun't bodher makin' dhem pancakes today. Dhey shuld come along vith sandwiches as well.  
Shall I get one for yu as well?"  
"N-No…I don't feel like eating." She said, biting her lower lip, concentrating again on getting rid of the pain.  
"Yu got dis, hon." He encouraged her, hand brushing over her spine while she shuddered slightly.  
"Hey, it looks more like you need to relax than me", Lucy chuckled and sipped on her glass of water, yet she appreciated him stroking her. With him by her side, she was sure the birth would be a piece of cake.

...

The time slowly passed, and within one and a half hour, the time between contractions was ten minutes instead of fifteen. Still not enough to leave the girls before they got sent to school and head to the hospital, which was just how she preferred, but it started to close.  
"Margo..." Margo felt someone pulling on her duvet, and she put on her glasses.  
"Agnes? What's the matter?"  
"There's sounds downstairs."  
"And have you asked Gru?"  
"He wasn't in the bedroom." Margo looked around, to see that Edith's bed was empty as well.  
"Where's Edith?"  
"She's by the stairs, trying to listen." The two girls walked out of the bedroom, sneaking trough the hall silently. Margo peeked at her phone, they weren't supposed to get up until another hour. Edith was standing by the top of the stairs, looking down towards the door opening to the living room.  
"Edith, what's going on?  
"There's something with Lucy." Before Margo could stop her sisters, both of the youngest ran down the stairs.

"Did you hear that?" Lucy asked when the hallway was filled with steps. Gru didn't notice it, he was busy with pressing the heels of his hand against her lower back to ease the pain for her a bit. Before the girls entered the room, another contraction hit her, much harder than the previous ones. She was leaning over the crocodile couch, hugging a pillow as if her life depended on it. "Uhhng, Gru, please a bit harder. It hurts so much!" Her legs felt more and more weak, impatiently waiting for the contractions to get closer.  
"Lucy!" The girls gasped, seeing her mother crouching on the crocodile couch, while Gru massaged her lower back, but with the girls crying in shock, Gru paused and lifted his head to look at them.  
"Gurls, calm down..." he tried to keep the volume of their voices down.  
"What's wrong with her?" asked Agnes, but Margo made sure they wouldn't dash onto her, but slowly approach her to keep stress away from her.  
"Dhe baby's comin'. She's in labor now."  
"Robin is coming?!" Edith gasped. "Bu-but-_here?!_ _Now?!_"  
"No, no, Edith, we'll head to dhe hospital in an hour, yu gurls gotta drive vith dhe bus, okay?"  
"S-sure...!" Margo nodded, gulping.

Agnes carefully approached Lucy and brushed her hand over her upper arm.  
"There there, Mom..." she whispered, trying just like her father to sooth her. And Lucy didn't know whether to cry or smile. She was calling her mom again…  
"What's the gap between the contractions?" asked Margo, insecurely. She had been reading some books about pregnancy, and Gru was a bit surprised she asked that. "Ten minutes..." he kept massaging Lucy's back. "Gurls, breakfast is in dhe kitchen, yu go and get ready on yur own, will yu?"  
They nodded and vanished in the kitchen, but Agnes stayed, caressing Lucy's arm.  
"Does it hurt much, Lucy...?"  
"No sweetheart, it doe-AAARGH!" The contraction was sharp. Agnes jumped away with a horrified glance, but Gru reassured her it was fine. She insecurely clung to her father's leg. "It doesn't really hurt, it's ah- aaaaah" She groaned, breathing trough the contraction, knowing fully well she scared the little girl, but she couldn't talk while her muscles were taking over. "It's weird Agnes. It just feels really weird and I can't control it. And even though I know it's coming, it surprises me." She dropped her head wearily on the pillow again and gave a tired smile. "Please Agnes, go and eat yur breakfast." Gru requested and she nodded, gulping. She was afraid she was going to scare the kids, and she felt she couldn't contain her sounds now when they got so strong. She pet the little girl's head, reassuring her. "I'm fine Agnes, mommy's body knows what to do when it's time and I'm just trying to work my way through. Go and eat, you'll have a long day in school and then you're gonna spend the evening at grandma. I might be at the hospital all day." She dived her face into the pillow to breathe through the next contraction. "O-Okay…" Agnes nodded and quickly vanished back in the kitchen to get some comfort from her sisters.

Gru didn't know what else he could do but keeping his hands on her back, rubbing them over her clenched muscles and soothing her. It must hurt like hell. Not only that, but imagining pressing a baby through that opening of hers, which seemed just so incredibly impossible to him, was giving him a stomach ache.  
"It's okay, Hon, it's okay...!" he soothed her, pressing the heels of his hands into her back. "We'll head to dhe hospital soon, hon, yu got dis...!"  
Suddenly, his excitement melted into serious worry. He hoped everything was going fine, but hearing her crying in such pain was giving him the creeps.

The next twenty minutes, the girls were ready for school and headed outside and the minutes increased from ten minutes to eight minutes, lasting lesser yet painfuller.  
A bunch of minions here and there appeared, the news of Lucy being in labor spread like a wildfire in the lab. Yet, being innocent workers who barely knew anything about the human body, they didn't know what this so called labor would be – once seeing Lucy lying on the couch, holding her belly and moaning in pain sometimes, they started to ask question.  
"Ehh – Lucy badaga plomba?"  
"No, Lucy's not havin' constipation!" Gru snarled back at them, stressed from seeing his girlfriend in pain.  
"Baru jahi babba oua?"  
"Yes, she does have belly aches! Wuld yu guys jus' please get back into dhe lab, I'm busy here!"  
Suddenly Dave broke through the wall of other minions, shocked and heavy breathing and as he saw his beloved Lucy lying on the couch in pain, he rushed over to her in a gasp.  
"Lucy! Bluga buji!" he sat down, holding her hand and kissing her knuckles. "Ami gu da. Ami gu da."  
"Th-thanks, Dave…" she said, a bit annoyed by the minions soothing words that he would be there for her. Gru rolled his eyes and gave his minion a glare.  
"Yu guys get back to work, dis instant, now!"  
The minions shrugged and left again, not quite touched by the scene.  
"Although…Dave, Kevin! Yu'll stay upstairs and take care of dhe house vhile I'll be in dhe hospital, a'right?"  
And just minutes later, the living room was free from minions and just Gru and Lucy remained, getting ready for leaving.

...

Some moments later, Gru was carrying the bag on his shoulder, while holding Lucy to walk throughout the pain. The contractions now were by seven and he started to get very nervous. "Ah, you must be Lucy." the nurse behind the counter smiled at the redhead and quickly got up to greet them. "Hello, honey, your husband already told us about your arrival."  
"Boyfriend, uh...I'm jus'-dhe boyfriend." Gru answered.  
"Oh? Well, anyway, how's it going? How many minutes between the contractions?" The nurse checked on her, giving her a strap that would later be put on the newborn as well, for identifications. "Seven minutes, and they're hard. Does that mean it's time?"  
"Oh heavens no. I mean, you're far along sweetheart, but we need to see how much dilated you are."  
"Aw, man", she whined while sitting herself into an offered wheelchair. Getting another contraction, she held onto Gru's hand while they were being led into a room. Gru held her hand and brushed it against her cheek, soothing her.  
They were brought into a small white room with a big bed, some curtains to block the sight into the room from the glass-walls, an open window and a small bed, extra made for their baby to sleep inside during the night. Imagining that there was going to lay their baby in some time was thrilling for Gru.  
With some effort, she crawled into the bed, just in time for her doctor to get in.  
"Dr Saxena!" Lucy exclaimed. "So happy you're on today!"

"Lucy, I didn't expect you until next week!" the blonde smiled at them, putting on some gloves.  
"I'll just check how far you've dilated and then the nurses are gonna take care of you until it's time. My shift ends around three so let's hope you have your little pup by then!" then she turned to see Gru. "Hello Felonious, I hope you're ready for the birth of your child. Do you want to assist?"  
"Well...yeah, uh –" he gulped, looking down at Lucy, still holding her hand. "...I really want to assist..." he took the little stool next to him to sit down, brushing his hand over her forehead and she smiled at him, exhausted, while the doctor started examining her.  
Lucy jumped when the next contraction hit, but Saxena told her what to do, breathing, relaxing, holding Gru's hand.  
"Alright Lucy, looks like you've dilated four centimeters. One of the nurses is gonna check you again later to see how fast you're dilating, but for the time being, try to get some rest and let Felonious take care of you." The doctor smiled towards Gru. "If you have any questions, just tell me." She left and Lucy closed her weary eyes, only to open them again to look into Gru's worried eyes. She still tried to smile, but the pain was getting to her. "I can't wait to see the baby…" she whispered. "Me too…" he said, smiling back at her and kissed her sweaty face.  
"Yu got dis, sweetheart, yu got dis."  
"Oh Gru…" she adjusted herself, grabbing the blanket to clutch it to her chest, yet kept holding his hand.  
"You're repeating yourself."  
"Yeah, I know…" he said. "I'm jus' – I'm jus' excited and worried and…I can't believe dis is happenin'."  
That made her laugh a bit. "Me neither, baby…" She closed in and kissed his nosetip. "But it is. I hope this won't take any longer now."  
"I'm sure it wun't. Now…take a nap, please."  
"Certainly do…" she nodded and closed her eyes to nestle down. Also Gru had some time now to try and relax his eyes, but as soon as he drew back from her, she gave a surprised howl in pain, and Gru jumped.  
"Lucy?!"  
She breathed, heavily, trying to relax and get through the pain.  
"S-sorry…this one was…harder than before…"  
From there on, she was fast asleep, stirring here and there at the contractions hitting, but it was better than waking up. And Gru rested his head against the cushions of the bed, still holding her hand.

"Miss Wilde, I presume?" A nurse walked into the room where Lucy was laying.  
Gru himself felt his body twitching from the surprise as he heard the nurse opening the door - probably he fell asleep too...  
"Y-yeah, L-Lucy Wilde…" he nodded, looking over to his still sleeping girlfriend.  
"I have some measurement devices we are going to hook up on to keep track of her and the baby's heartbeat." She walked in with what looked like some odd television with wires that was going to be attached to her body  
"But uh - she's still sleepin'."  
"That's not a problem; we just need to get that on her wrist and her belly, that's all."  
Gru fell back into his chair, resting his weary head against the wall and watched as the nurse applied the little round things on the sides of her belly and one on top of it, the other was wrapped around Lucy's left arm, and she started the computer.  
Gru saw two steady lines twitching up with each bleeping sound, one of them showed him a number shifting secondly between 80 and 85.  
The other was even beating faster, up to 130 pounds. This was his baby's heartbeat…  
"Active little fella you got there." she smiled as she set the rest of the monitors. "If the monitor should start beeping faster, don't worry, the baby's pulse can reduce itself sometimes rapidly, but if it should get beneath 90, you gotta tell us instantly."  
"Hmm..." Gru nodded, looking back at Lucy. He was so worried...he just really, really hoped it was going to be fine for her and their baby.  
Once Lucy woke up, she was strapped to something around her wrist. Lifting up her dress, she saw some white circled pads over her belly. And then she looked over to the space where Gru had been. He was still asleep, and she would keep it that way until it would all get frantic. A nurse walked in silently.

"How long have I been out?"  
"Oh, two hours maybe? I'm just gonna see how it's going." The nurse approached her and examined her.  
"Nice and steady, nice and steady sweetheart. Another centimeter already. Maybe you should try to change into that dress now that you rested?" Lucy scooted herself up on the bed. "Oh yeah, I need to do that too", she mumbled. Another contraction hit her. "Urgh, how far are they between now?"  
"Looks like five minutes. Just send your husb-"  
"Boyfriend, actually."  
"Just send your partner to us if the water goes or you see blood or anything that worries you, alright?" Lucy nodded while she got herself off the bed to go to the bathroom. Holding her belly, she slowly locked herself into the bathroom to have some privacy. While sitting on the toilet, she pulled her dress off and put on the hospital dress, feeling the fabric of her dress drenched in sweat. Humming trough a new contraction, she leaned against the sink. The pressure in her lower abdomen got more intense once she was washing her hands, making her moan again. Painful memories of period cramps resurfaced something she hadn't had in years due to her body adapting. She had for sure not missed that feeling.

"Uuuugh…Robin, please stop hurting mommy." She whimpered, holding her belly. It was quiet inside there, she noticed. But her muscles were cramped, and maybe she just didn't notice that the baby was moving.  
"Lucy…?" a sudden knock on the door and Gru's voice brought her back to reality.  
"Y-yes?"  
"Are yu okay?"  
"Y-yeah…just…" she opened the door and handed him without a word the drenched dress she wore before. "Put it in our plastic bag please? It's disgusting."  
"Uh- yeah!"  
Taking the sweat-drenched dress, he quickly stored it back into the bag. Gee, she really needed to drink a lot, he didn't want her to dehydrate. She walked over to the bed, putting on the measure devices again, but instead of lying down, she leaned over the bed, like she had done with the couch back at home. She was clawing her hands into the bed, trying to breathe through the pain.  
"This was even worse than I feared Gru, it's aching like hell." She whined, clutching to his chest as soon as he sat next to her. "Oh Lucy…"he massaged her back again, on the same spot that hurt her the most every time she had a contraction. He tried to lower her pulse again, being close to her and kissing her hair, one hand running over her back, the other over her arm. "Don't ever make me pregnant again."  
"Heh-sorry. I guess it wun't happen again dat fast..."  
He looked at her, saw her creased face as she hit the next one in five minutes, moaning into his chest, heavily breathing.  
"Oww!" she whined.  
"Shhh...shh, I know it hurts..." he whispered, brushing his hand over her head and listened to her huffs. "Dat's right, keep breathin'..." he looked at the screen of the monitor and hoped this would cheer her up a bit.

"Look, dhere is yur baby's heartbeat." He slightly tapped on the curve beneath hers, switching faster than hers.  
"Look how excited it is to finally be born."  
Lucy chuckled over his sweet words and looked up at him. "Or happy about seeing their father the first time…"  
She brushed her hand over his cheek.  
She didn't have to be alone -and that was comfort enough for her.  
"Thank you for being here with me. I - I wouldn't know what else I should do without you."  
"Of course, Lucy, i wouldn't leave you by your own here now." he said, holding her belly and it once again relaxed Lucy to know that he was here with him.  
They shared a smile and some small kisses before he noticed she was still sweating.  
"Lucy, yu really need somethin' to drink."  
"Y-yeah, that would be great…can you bring me some water, please?"  
After he reckoned that Lucy's contractions paused for a second, he stood up, placing his hand on her cheek. "I'll get yu some drink, if anythin' happens, call dhe nurse..." Kissing her forehead, he left the room and looked around for some beverage dispenser, or maybe the nurses could hand him one.

"Hi Gru!"

Gru cringed, eyes roaming around to try and find the source of the voice. This couldn't be-  
It could!  
Sitting in a neat row, Agnes, Margo, Edith and Gru's mom waved at him, smiling innocently.  
"_Mom !_!" Gru hissed towards the older lady. "Vhat dhe-vhy are yu here?!" - "Vhy, yu even ask? To watch yur gurlfriend givin' yur daughterz zome nize leetle zibling!"  
"I told yu Mom, I told yu to bring dhem home!" Looking at the kids, he bit his lower lip. "And vhy didn't yu said anythin' about _MY_ words, huh?!"  
"You told us to do whatever she says." Agnes shrugged. "So, she decided to visit you and here we are."  
"Ouh, goddamn-" - "Felonious!" Marlena crossed her arms. "Not in front of ze gurls!" - "How's it going anyway?" asked Margo. "Pauses between the contractions?"  
"Four minutes..." he mumbled.  
" Ohh, does that mean –?" Agnes asked.  
"No, nono, sweetie. She's apparently still not read, but – well…I assume it wun't be long by now."  
"Can we watch?"  
"Eh – no, Agnes!" he shook his head. "No, yu wuldn't like vhat yu see."  
"Why not?" asked Edith. "I always wanted to see a birth in real life!"  
But Margo tugged on Agnes' and Edith's arm. "Agnes, come on, give them some privacy, alright?" He chuckled at the three of them and gave them a hug. "I dun't think it wun't take long, jus' – be patient a bit, yes?" And then he turned to his mom with a dark glance.  
"And yu'll keep dhem away from dat room until I tell yu, did yu hear me?!"  
"Ja ja, dun't worry!"

...

With a bottle of Water, he returned into Lucy's room, a grumpy expression on his face.  
"Guess who had dhe excellent idea to bring dhe gurls not home but into dhe hospital..." he mumbled, opening the bottle for her.

Lucy's eyes suddenly pried open to a panicking glance.  
"THEY'RE HERE?!" She started to breathe quicker, knowing how the girls loved to jump into situations. Grabbing the bottle from his hands, she gulped down half of the bottle in one go. "I thought your mom was gonna bring them home!" Getting another contraction, she stopped shouting, breathing her way through the intense clenching of her muscles.  
"Lucy, Lucy, calm down!" he instantly shouted back, a bit louder than he intended.  
"I dun't know vhy dhey're here, my Mom jus' had dat great idea to bring dhem - Lucy…?"  
Lucy stared back with a frozen face.  
For a second, she thought she wet herself. She felt a small tinkle of fluid run down her legs. Looking down, it was see-trough.  
"L-Lucy, vhat is…?"  
"Is that..." without finishing her thought, she looked back at Gru.  
"G-Gru, my water just broke!"

He stiffened. Oh dear..._oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  
_"O-Okay, y-yu stay here, I'll get dhe nurse-and I'll make sure dhe gurls stay outside!"  
Running out, he quickly looked around for a nurse that had been inside her room before. "Mister Gru, is everything okay?" he turned around, seeing the woman that had been attaching the measure-screen on his girlfriend's wrist and belly. She was holding a stack of towels in her hand, a bit alert from his nervous state.  
"H-Her water broke!"  
"Oh my." she suddenly offered a happy smile. "Seems like we can start?"  
"The water broke?" Agnes jumped off her seat, but Gru gave his mother a sign that she should keep her away from Lucy.  
The nurse quickly jogged with Gru inside the room.  
"So, I heard the water broke?" she put on some gloves and motioned Lucy to lay down, so she could examine her.  
"Urrgh, yeah." She pointed down at the pool on the floor while sitting herself up in the bed. "It just happened, and the contractions are getting very intense." Lucy separated her legs to let the nurse examine her.  
"Oh my..."  
"Oh my WHAT?!"  
"Well, nothing's wrong miss Wilde, you're just fully dilated. Ten centimeters. The next contraction, I want you to start pushing. Get ready, I'll get Dr. Saxena."

Lucy was getting herself in position and gulped. Oh dear, now it started…  
But she looked over at Gru first to see if he was okay. He was pale like the wall he was standing in front of.  
"Gru, c-can I hold your hand?" she asked insecurely, but before she knew what happened, he suddenly broke down on the ground, fainting from the tension.  
"G-Gru!" she yelped in shock, struggling to push herself to the edge of the bed to see if he was alright, but just a second later, he was standing on his feet again, rubbing his head, blinking and mumbling: _"I'mfineI'mfineI'mtotallyfine!"_  
"Gru, please…"  
"H-Huh?"  
"Gru, it's time…" she reached her hand to his, holding it firmly.  
After that long wait through pain and yelps, more and more contractions, she was going to give birth to their baby now.  
Keeping himself from collapsing instantly, he moved up to her quickly, his hand grabbing hers as he sat down next to her on a stool and gulped.

"O-oh boy..." he gasped and switched into a faint laughter.  
"Hun, yu think yu're ready?" he asked her, caressing her thumb with his.  
She hesitated, but with a small smile, she nodded.  
"I am", she moaned, getting her next contraction, holding his hand and started to push. The grip around his hand tightened suddenly and Gru gasped, but didn't pull back. Dr. Saxena came into the room and joined them.

"Lucy, it's very important that you don't push when you don't have a contraction, alright? Just breathe your way through the breaks, and work hard when the contractions start." The doctor sat herself by Lucy's sex, keeping a lookout how it was going. Two contractions more went by with Lucy moaning loudly, humming whenever she could to not hurt her own vocal cords, squeezing Gru's hands so hard she was afraid of breaking his fingers.  
"You're doing great Lucy, it just takes some time."  
A nurse handed him some damp cloth to press onto her forehead, but he waited until her next push. "Keep breathing, honey, keep breathing." the Doctor said.  
The next contraction came, and Lucy moaned loudly, screaming out the pressuring pain and squeezing her hand around Gru's. His fingers went numb after a while, but he didn't care. He kept the ice-cold cloth on her forehead and endured as Lucy cursed him from time to time for her miserable condition, but he just took it and whispered her encouraging words.  
"Yu got dis, Lucy, really good." Her contraction ending, she panted tiredly.  
"Good girl Lucy! I see the head!"  
"You- you do?" She twisted her head to look in Gru's face, smiling tiredly.  
"Yes Lucy, looks like it's gonna be black hair. Guessing that's on daddy's side, huh?" A sudden flinch inside his stomach appeared when she announced the head...it had dark hair...just like him. His eyes widened, and he gazed down at her, giving a brief, faint laughter in disbelief. Their baby was almost there, and he still couldn't believe it. Curiously, he leaned over Lucy's shoulder and belly, looking if he could see anything.

It was almost there, so close...

Grabbing Gru's hand, she suddenly started travelling both their palms over her belly and down towards her sex – and there it was. This was their baby's head. It was so tiny, yet much bigger than anything she ever had inside of her there and it was warm and wet and fuzzy. She felt her heart flutter, knowing this was their child, and as she looked over to Gru, her heat melted over his fascinated glance; And were those tears swelling in his eyes?  
"Okay, one last push, Lucy, here we go…"  
"Almost done, sweetie, almost done..." he breathed into her ear, but it was more that he was telling it to himself, for he still couldn't believe it.  
And then, the tension inside Lucy was gone by the final push. Her body was still aching, but she didn't feel the pressure. Saxena was fumbling around with some weird scissors and a towel.

And then she heard it. Cries.  
"I-Is that-" Lucy gasped.  
"Oh yeah…"  
Gru felt like the world just stopped around them, as Saxena lifted up the towel, with something moving inside.

His child...

It was tiny, wet, pale, with red skin and it was loud, crying from the bright lights, the coldness around it...its head was just as big as a tennis ball, maybe a bit bigger. Its tiny arms and legs moved around uncoordinated, its tiny chest rose with each weak cry the baby gave.  
"Lucy, Felonious - here's your little daughter." The baby was placed upon Lucy's chest and Lucy instantly cradled it, holding the baby close.  
"Shhh…hey little baby…" she soothed the crying infant and just babbled some useless pet names and sweet words to the baby to say hello.  
Gru couldn't keep his eyes away from that small crying baby in her arms. An overwhelming feeling rose inside him…  
Carefully, he joined her on the bed and lying next to her, nuzzling his head against hers, completely stunned that this wasn't just some baby, but really and truly their little daughter. "Oh Gru…She's perfect..." she breathed with a shaking voice, feeling as Gru brushed away the tears from her face.  
She reached up to give him the bundle, and instinctively, he looked between their freshly born daughter and Lucy.  
"M-May I?"  
She nodded with a smile.  
And Gru reached to pick her up – that small bundle full of life.  
He was holding her for the first time. Speechlessly, he stared down at his little baby, his tiny daughter that they have been waiting for the last 9 months. Robin still gave some weak cries, but soon stopped, feelings she was laying in somebody's secure arms. His knees felt as soft as rice-pudding.  
This was their child...his own little baby...  
He could feel something streaming down his cheek, but for the moment he didn't know what it was...  
A tear?

"Gru…?" she suddenly asked, not sure if she should cry or laugh, but the tears just streamed down her face.  
"Lucy…" he breathed, looking at that small face. She had jet black hair, much hair for that matter, and she opened her lids to reveal bright blue eyes, staring back at him.  
She was the most wonderful creature he had ever seen.  
"She's…she's beautiful…"  
He looked back at her and placed her back into her arms when she started crying again.  
She fumbled with the hospital dress, releasing one of her breasts and gave to the tiny baby, who started to suck on for dear life.  
"You know how some say the pain goes away once the baby is born? It still hurts!" she whined, tears streaming down her face. She was happy. She truly was, but hormones of all kinds where raging through her body, the aftermath of the birth letting it all flow out. She couldn't keep it in anymore, snapping from the tension she had building up for hours. In the mix of all the pain, she also felt her heart exploding with warmth and love for the child she was feeding. Lucy looked up at him, smiling.  
"She's hungry", she chuckled tiredly.  
Gru's gaze was fixed on the little infant, quietly sucking on Lucy's breast, and he let his hand roam over the little babys head. Her expressions softened up, the relaxing sensation of nibbling onto her breast was keeping her quiet and calm. Small hands reached for Lucy's skin to hold onto, eyes closed shut...  
He looked back at Lucy, and then he cupped her face, kissed her on the cheeks, on the forehead, on the temple, everywhere his lips reached her, and he drew her as close as possible to not crush Robin between them.  
"Well done, sweetheart...well done..." he opened his eyes, gazing into hers and he could feel another tear rolling down his own face, while he brushed off hers with his thumbs. It had been an exhausting birth...for her and for him. But it was totally worth it.

"I love yu so much..."  
Accepting his kisses, she smiled, snuggling up against him. "Hey there, why the tears Gru? I love you too." Robin was clawing at her breast, and she looked down. With a finger, she poked the little girl's hand, and she grabbed onto the finger. "Wow, she's a strong little one", Lucy smiled and Gru chuckled, brushing his thumb over her cheek. The baby was staring intensely into her eyes, right now a very dark shade of blue neither she or Gru possessed. She knew that most babies were born with blue eyes even if they didn't have it later on though. There was a ring of lighter green in the middle if you looked closely at the baby.

"Gru, I think she'll have my eyes", Lucy gasped silently, and Gru nodded. "She's goin' to be dhe most beautiful gurl in dis entire universe."  
That made Lucy chuckle.

* * *

_**[For those of you complaining about the chosen gender: There are so many fanfics with their baby being male. And because I am never flowing with the stream, I thought hey - let's give them a girl with a semi-male name! ]**_


	11. Little Sister

The next few hours were spend with snuggles, feeding, hugging and kissing and Lucy finally found some sleep – after twelve hours in labor, she just couldn't stay awake anymore – some good time for Gru to bond with his little baby-girl.  
She was taken by a nurse, but Gru was allowed to come with her. She was measured, weighted, and Gru was astonished how very small she was. Seventeen inches, and just 8 pounds.  
And then she was examined on her reflexes and got some shots. Robin whimpered slightly in discomfort as the needle pinched inside her leg, but oh brave little girl, she didn't cry at all.  
"Oh, who of you has freckles?"  
"Uh…Lucy."  
"She's going to have a lot of freckles." The nurse literally beamed at him. "So, let's see here…who has long toes?"  
"Uh…Lucy, too."  
"Mh-hm…and I see even the eyes are from her mother." He shrugged with a smile, watching carefully as his baby was checked and analyzed.  
"Aw, but the nose is all like her fathers."  
Gru looked down at the little moving baby who gave occasional little cries in protest, and saw that the nurse was right. Robin's nose was a bit longer than normal babies he had seen.  
"Poor lady." He commented, and the nurse laughed. "Yes, maybe the nose and the facial features, and the ears…and what beautiful hair you have, sweetie, beautiful black hair." Fingers ran through the baby's jet-black, thick locks.  
He smiled at how the nurse adored her, for yes – she was having quite a mane on her head. Hopefully that wouldn't fall off in her mid-thirties like his.  
"Daddy's side as well?" she asked, insecurely eyeing him and his bald head. And he nodded.

"Well, she's looking just fine; time for the little girl's first bath."  
Gru watched the nurse drenching a cloth in warm water and started to clean her up, clean her skin, her chest, her arms and legs.  
Robin certainly didn't like this way of being touched and instantly started crying, louder than before. It was almost heartbreaking. It was a high-pitched, shrill whine newborns cried and it set something into motion inside him, his heart pounded louder.  
And suddenly, all the father instincts kicked in so rapidly, Gru rushed closer to his baby and extended his finger to brush it over her nose and her cheeks while her dark locks were shampooed and cleaned.  
"Sweetie, shh…I'm here, my baby, I'm here…"  
Robin calmed down by Gru's dark voice and touch, finally opening her eyes to look up – straight into his own. And it was the look of trust. She trusted him…  
Her hand grabbed his finger and held onto it, with her tiny hands and fingers…it looked just so fragile in his own.  
"Aww, she's going to be a daddy's girl." The nurse mused, continuing cleaning the baby until it was all fresh and done and finally, she even received her first diaper and was wrapped up in a blanket to be handed back to Gru.  
"There you go, she's now all nice and clean."  
"Thank yu." He nodded, and then he smiled. Genuinely.  
Back in the room Lucy was still lying, he figured she was fast asleep. Not even Robin's occasional loud whimpers woke her up.  
She had been so strong, so brave...admiration wouldn't be the word to express his feelings towards his beloved Lucy.

Robin was still incredibly shocked by the world around her, her eyes looking around in an alert state, way too distracted to be crying now. She was naked, but kept warm in her little towel and he was holding her securely in his big arms. She looked up at him, eyeing him and slowly realizing that this was her father...  
The one that was there all the time, held her, cuddled her, talked to her.  
And Gru stared back at her, into her round, big blue eyes with the light green circle around her pupil. She'll have Lucy's eyes...  
Gru leaned down, kissing his baby on the forehead. Both closing their eyes for the second he expressed his deepest love towards her, he looked back at her and saw her little arms somewhat reaching towards his face. But he only gave her his finger to cling on, and she had quite a firm grip already. "My strong leetle gurl." He whispered, giving her another kiss and placing her on his chest, her tiny head in the crook of his neck. He could hear her yawn. Well, it soon would be time for the little miss to sleep, but first he decided that it was time to show her to her bigger sisters.

...

Still sitting in the hallways, the three Gru children continued staring at the door, behind which Lucy was giving birth to their sibling.  
Nothing was heard, nothing was seen. Over two hours now. They had a walk with their grandma already through the hospitals park and Agnes started asking Nana about Gru's birth and how he had been as a newborn baby. But knowing Marlena's character, she always seemed to put the facts as drily as possible on the table. She told them about his father and her and how they decided to have a baby – and how terrible it was to feel sick all through the pregnancy to the day he was born. He had been a tiny one, she told them. Very small and fragile compared to the other babies – and he always had been a loud one. He was the biggest and loudest crybaby she had ever witnessed! He was crying all day and all night long, he hated being touched, sometimes even by his own parents, hated baths, hated the cold and the heat, hated soft blankets and not so soft blankets – he always was complaining. On the question if he had been bald as a baby too made the girls and Marlena laugh. And yes – he always had been pretty hairless his life and it took a whole while until he started growing some. But through all the negative sides she counted, the girls could see how much she missed these times nevertheless and how proud she was that he was having a baby on his own today.

So now they stood here, waiting for a sign of their father and their newborn sibling.

"You think everything went fine?" asked Agnes, clutching to her unicorn.  
"Oh, of course zweetie. Lucy is a tough gurl, izn't she?" consoled her Nana.  
"Y-yes, she is."  
"And she is going to give yu gurlz a beautiful zibling, yu'll see!"  
"But what if the baby is harmed or even – died?"  
Edith asked, with a lump in her throat.  
"No, don't worry, Edith – the pregnancy went perfectly fine, none of them is going to be harmed or dead…right?" Margo looked back to Marlena and she nodded, reassuring.

"I wonder what she'll look like…" Agnes pondered.  
"He, Agnes. It's gonna be a **_he_**! And he'll look awesome, with black hair and bright blue eyes and he's going to be the strongest baby in the history of mankind!"  
"Or she'll be a beautiful redhead with Lucy's wonderful eyes and freckles…ohh I would love freckles."  
"Well, guys – we're going to see in a bit." Said Margo, texting Avery that she was becoming a big sister today.  
And then the door was opened. And Gru stepped outside, with a small, white bundle in his arms and the brightest smile on his face.  
"Gru!" the girls gasped.  
"Dad!" Agnes and Edith ran up to Gru and he knelt down, holding the baby securely in his arms.  
"Hey keettens. Yu ready tu see yur leetle siblin'?"  
"Yes!" they exclaimed.  
"Lemme look! Lemme look!"

And thus, Gru pulled the corner of the blanket away to reveal a small, relaxed, black-haired head, sleeping soundly in his arms and her lips opening and closing.  
"Ohhh!" they exclaimed in awe.  
"Vhat a beautiful leetle fellow." Marlena smiled at the baby and then at her son.  
"She's…she's so cute!"  
"He has dark hair, just like you!" Edith looked at him, sincerely hoping it was male. But Gru chuckled gently, shaking his head. "It's a gurl, Edith…"  
"Hah! See? I told you!" Agnes poked Edith's side. That perhaps had been a bit too loud, for Robin stirred and let out a weak cry.  
"O-Oh no, I woke her up." Agnes gasped, coming closer to the baby to gently pet her head.  
"There, there, little Robin. I'm sorry, little Robin."  
And indeed, she started to silence again after Agnes was talking to her.  
"Aww, man." Edith mumbled with slumped shoulders. "I was so hoping it's gonna be a boy…"  
"Vell, by his looks, yu shuld be happy it's not a boy." Marlena joked and the others giggled silently.  
"Mom…" Gru shot a dark glance and a pout at her.  
"And how's Lucy doing? Is she okay?" Asked Margo.  
"She's fine, jus' very exhausted and asleep right now." He then started passing the little creature among the girls. "Agnes…"  
"Ca-ca-can…can I hold her?"  
He nodded, and she accepted. "Dhere yu go – yur leetle sister. Here, support dhe head like dis, and dhe odher around her body. Very good, Agnes."  
The little girl starred back at her sleeping sister and smiled. "Hey, little Robin. Hey. I'm your big sister." Robin opened her eyes to stare at her with big, surprised eyes. "I've been waiting for you."  
Gru couldn't help but smile.  
"Vell done, my boy..." Marlena patted her sons shoulder. "Vell done...and she doezn't even look dat terrible."

"Mom...!" He narrowed his eyes while looking at his mother. "Not cool…"  
Agnes continued holding her wrapped little baby-sister until Edith started nagging to hold her too. She was gentle enough to do after Agnes and support her head, the other around her body.  
She starred down at the little newborn that was moving barely in her arms. "She...she has blue eyes, just like you!" She gasped. "Heh...no, babies get dheir eye color after weeks, months and even years...and she'll likely get Lucy's eyes."  
"Green eyes?" Gru nodded.  
The small family watched the new member of their clan for another ten minutes, squirming, sneezing, coughing, making her usual baby-noises. And as soon as she started creasing her face and sobbing in sight discomfort, Gru took her back in his arms and held her close to his chest.  
"It's time for her to have some rest. Mom, can yu bring dhem home?"  
"But we wanna stay with her!" Agnes whined. "Hon, Lucy, Robin and I need some rest, we were awake since five in dhe mornin'."  
"Come on, zweetie, give yur parents some privacy." Marlena gently took Agnes hand.  
"Will you come back tomorrow?" - "We will, I promise keetten."  
The three of them hugged their father goodbye and each of them gave their little sister a snuggle or kiss. They were going to be awesome bigger sisters, he was sure.

About to rise from his kneeling position, Margo suddenly ran back to him. "Gru! Gru, there's...there's something you forgot!"  
"Forgot?" he asked, a bit puzzled. Margo quickly dug her hand inside the pocket of her jacket. "You said you guys would wait until Robin is there, so...I think it's time!"  
She pulled her hand out again, holding a small, black box in her hand. That was...that was the ring they bought together! He had wondered where it ended up, but he wasn't expecting her to have it!  
"Margo, yu-"  
"Please, Gru, now or never!"  
Gru hesitated for a second, looking at his daughter with saucer eyes. But then, his spirit took over once again. And he took the box from her hand.  
"I will..." he assured her with a warm smile.

...

A few moments later, Gru returned to their room, while the kids and grandma were about to leave.  
Looking at the bed, he saw Lucy, still sleeping, resting from the terribly exhausting twelve hours of pain and agony - but it was over. Nine months of waiting and half a day of cramps and childbirth, and their baby was here. Instinctively, he placed the all straddled baby on top of her chest, letting her feel their little girl for the first time.  
Robin kept sleeping, lulled into a deep slumber. Maybe, he thought, I don't suck at this part of being a parent as I thought first. It would be harder in future, but he would go through all of this - the gratitude for having a healthy little girl and Lucy's brave way of delivery was worth going through own pain and tears and simply being a father. Lucy stirred slightly, tossing her head gently, her arm drawing close to the baby on her chest and cupping her lovely. She was safe and sound on mommys chest.  
The sight was melting his heart, and he sat down on the edge of the bed, observing them both, gently stroking over his daughters small head. Her skin was so smooth and warm and her body was tiny compared to his or lucy's...  
Remembering he was here for a special occasion, he gently leaned in to kiss Lucy's eyelid. "Hey, sweetheart...sorry for wakin' yu up..."  
She mumbled, stirring more. Lucy woke up to feel the weight of a little creature on her chest and kisses on her face. Looking down, she saw a tiny pink human who was now and then making a little squealing sound. She had probably felt it in her sleep, because she was gently cupping the baby in her arms already.  
"Woah", Lucy whispered. "I actually did it. I gave birth. How cool is that?" She looked up at Gru. Gru chuckled. "Yes, honey, yu did it! And look at her...she's here..." he beamed at her. She loved his smile, it was what had made her long to giving birth, to give him an offspring, to see him with this face of pure happiness.

"You were a champ." she breathed. "Oh, Hon, yu're dhe real champ here..." he chuckled, still sitting close to her and kissing her face, caressing the baby's back. It moved here and there beneath his palm, but she liked it, apparently. She felt tears running down her face from her body being so tired "Thank you for all your help. How are you feeling? Are the girls still here?"  
"I'm fine, dhe gurls are great, dhey are vith dheir grandma at home...yu shuld have seen Agnes face vhen I gave her robin for dhe firs time...she was so happy dat she wuld have yur eyes in dhe end, i bet..." he cupped Lucy's cheek, looking deep into her eyes.  
"Oh, I would have loved to be awake to see that!" Lucy whined. "Everybody's happy, Lucy...but enough of us...how are yu doin'? Still tired...?"  
"Yes..." she sighed. "I'll sleep like a stone tonight! I guess Junior will too, huh?"  
Robin stirred on her chest and started to cry. "Oh dear..." Gru blinked. "Aww, she's hungry again, I guess..."  
Gently, Lucy opened up her dress to breastfeed the little baby. The feeling of the child hungry sucking on her nipple was somehow comforting and relaxing, and when Robin opened up her large eyes to look at her, she felt a pang in her heart, falling deeper in love.  
Honestly, Gru was very surprised about how hungry the baby was. the last time Lucy fed her was three hours ago, and she drank from her like she was starving.  
"Leetle greedy-guts..." he said jokingly, brushing his thumb over the baby's soft ebony-black hair.  
"Gru...when we're back home, can I have a bath - a HOT bath? And champagne? I really need something to drink after all this time."  
"Sure, sweetpea - but dhe thing is... Yu gotta stay here over dhe night..." he glanced back at her. "Dhe nurse told me she gotta observe dhe two of yu, because...Robin's heart measure is a leetle irregular...dun't worry, it's nothin' big, she's jus' very small, compared to average babys, and her heart hasn't found dhe right rhythm yet..."  
She looked up at him worryingly when told she had to stay the night due to Robin's heart. "Is she-?"  
"She's fine, dun't worry! She's jus'...very small, yu know?"  
Small? Pfft, tell that to her birth canal! She was still aching down there hours later.

For a couple of minutes, he spent silently watching the baby drinking, petting the little girls head and looking back at Lucy, wearing the same happy smile.  
Until he found himself suddenly remembering what was about to happen now.  
"U-Uhm...Lucy..." he suddenly started to stammer. He gulped throwing his insecurity to the back of his mind.  
"I've gotta ask yu somethin'..."

He climbed down from the bed, so he was kneeling in front of her, holding her hand in his own.  
He was getting down on one knee!  
_He was getting down on one knee!  
HE WAS GETTING DOWN ON ONE KNEE WHILE SHE WAS LAYING EXHAUSTED FROM GIVING BIRTH, SWEATY AND YUCKY AND BREASTFEEDING!_  
"Lucy...yu jus' gave me dhe most beautiful present in dhe wurld...yu made me realize dat no man is really complete vithout seein' dhe child he has conceived...I know, I tell it to yu everyday, but I wish i culd tell it to yu every free minute, every second: Yu, dhe gurls and dis child are dhe most important part of my life...yu've completed me..."  
He fiddled for the little box in his jacket and pulled it out.  
Lucy took a large breath, calming herself, yet yelling on the inside.  
"G-Gru...!" she stammered.  
"I know dat...I know dat last time...yu said no, and I respect dat, but...but throughout dhe entire day, to have dis experience of dhe love of my life giving birth to our child is makin' me realize dat I have to du it again:  
Lucy Wilde..."  
He opened the box to reveal a golden, bland ring with beautiful diamonds on it, sparkling in the dimmed light.  
"Will yu be my wife...?"

"Oh my God", she worded, almost silently, looking at the ring as tears streamed down her face. Raising her gaze, she looked up in the face of the man she loved, the father of her child, her partner and friend.  
"Oh, Gru, you really pick the worst moments", Lucy chuckled, crying from the emotions and the pain and how tired her whole body was. "Yes Gru, I want to be your wife."  
She said yes...  
_She said yes!_  
Biting down on his lip, Gru tried to repress a laughter, more out of disbelief and happiness. But instead, he quickly ran his sleeve over his face before she could see him loosing some tears again as well.  
Just then, Robin decided to stop suckling and start crying.  
She whined, stirred, irritated from Lucy's own nervous state, but Gru quickly sat down back on the bed, leaning down to kiss Lucy, placing both of his hands on her cheeks, drawing back, only to kiss her again.  
He wanted to say something, but Robin's voice rose just more when she felt her daddy moving so quickly towards Lucy, but Gru quickly picked her up, snuggling her against his chest, humming soothing sounds.  
"Shhh, shh...dhere, dhere, pumpkin..."

His hand cupping the tiny baby's head, he kissed her and she soon stopped crying.  
Gru looked back at Lucy, his free hand wrapping around Lucy's body to draw her close again, nuzzling his forehead against hers and she leaned against him, hugging him and sobbing in happiness.  
He put on the ring on her finger, smiling at his fiancee. It ft perfectly! "It's beautiful..." she gasped, looking back at him. Here they were - He, the exvillain who's life just completed itself, the Agent, the mother of a beautiful little daughter, and their child. Their own, little child, pampered with it's parents love and affection.  
"I love yu, Lucy...I love yu so much..." he breathed, voice breaking faintly.  
"I love you too, Gru..." she whispered. They continued hugging each other, kissing and snuggling and playing with their newborn daughter, holding her hand or giving her kisses. "You are so loved too, my baby..." Lucy whispered towards her sleeping daughter. And if she would be able to smile, Gru was sure she would have.

...

It was all quiet. Too quiet. Lucy looked around herself. Gru was down in another room with the nurses, where Robin would spend the night, and Lucy was here, on the bed, bored.  
It was around eight o'clock, she saw on the wall. And she couldn't sleep right now. She had doozed on and off for the last eight hours, and now her head was clear. Looking over at the table by her bed, she saw her phone. Yeah, that was probably a good idea.

Silas put his newspaper down when hearing his phone ringing, grabbing it before Salt and Pepper could get hold of it. His two dogs jumped up on the cough with him, laying on his lap to listen in on the call. He chuckled, they always wanted to hear the voice of his daughter and son.  
But it wasn't any one of them.  
"Lucy? What's going on?"

"Silas, hey! I was just thinking of you, wanted to call you, you know? Well, I just wanted to tell you, I gave birth today! It's a little girl, her name is Robin and she's a bit small so now she's being supervised an-"  
"Miss Wilde, calm down!" Silas wasn't prepared for this. She was due next week. "Are you alright? Where is Mr Gru?"  
"Oh", Lucy calmed down and spoked more slowly. "I'm fine, had a couple of hours of rest now at the hospital. Gru was really helpful, he supported me trough the contractions and held me so I could be comfortable. He's with the nurses now, helping getting the baby to sleep." Silas burst out in a grin, happy that she was so excited and glad, it must have gone well.  
"Sounds wonderful Lucy, absolutely wonderful. So tell me, was childbirth as scary as you participated?"  
"Well, it was painful and uncomfortable, but also really cool. I wouldn't redo it thought. I'm happy with Robin and Gru's girls. They've started calling me mom." Every time she said it out loud, a smile broke out on her face.  
"And guess what Silas? Once I had rested, Gru popped the question for me." She looked at the ring on her finger and smiled. Silas asked where the father was, and she told him Gru was with the baby at the observation-station.

While Lucy was talking to Silas in the room next door, Gru was sitting close to the tiny bed in which Robin would stay during the night. He actually would be more happy to have her sleeping in their room, but Gru needed his rest as well, and if anything should happen, the nurses would take care of her. She as all neatly dressed in her little body suit, hands inside two little gloves to keep her finger out of her face during the night. She could seriously hurt herself, when she still didn't know how to control these limbs. The white lines going to the computer seemed slightly weird, threatening, as if it was telling him she was sick, but the nurse told him it was perfectly normal for baby's to be in observation on the day of her birth.

"Try and make her fall asleep, she'll probably feel a bit scared alone here with different people."

Gru remained on the chair, looking down at Robin moving an stirring, giving he little baby-noises that made his heart melt.  
"She has some cute cry." Commented the nurse, picking up some towels with a big grin on her face. "Yeah..." Gru offered his finger to let her nibble on it, and after some seconds, she reckoned that it wasn't her mothers breast, so she creased her face disappointed, huffing once or twice and giving a weak cry of protest.  
"Oh, here, this'll help you." The nurse handed him a weird round plastic thing and he had to turn it around several times before he noticed that it was a pacifier.  
He continued to sooth her by brushing his hand over her cheeks, or his finger to hold onto, but soon he had no other choice but to give her the pacifier.  
"Shhh, here's yur dinky, dhere yu go...take it" robin instantly sucked on the weird thing, and as she paused it slipped out of her mouth, so she started to whimper again.  
"No honey, keep it in, dhere yu go...good gurl."  
Robin continued to nibble on it, Gru holding his finger into the small hole to keep it in her mouth.  
After a while, her eyelids grew heavy and she closed her eyes, clinging with one hand onto his little finger.  
"Good gurl..." He whispered. "Dat's right, sleep a bit, my baby...had an exhausting day, hm?"  
Robin looked at him a last time, eyeing him, observing him, somehow maybe giving him a look that told him: I trust you. I need you...  
That before Robin finally gave some last small noises and then dozed off, instantly with her hand holding onto her father. Gru watched her sleeping, watched her little chest lifting and falling with each of her breaths, seeing her eyes moving beneath her lids...  
The measure device kept beeping silently, keeping her pulse traced by soothed and relaxed 100 beats...

Returning to Lucy, he wore a happy smile on his face, but he was more than tired. She just ended the call and turned around to face him.  
"Hey...how's our princess doing?"  
"She's asleep, I guess..." He breathed weakly. Good thing the nurses made sure he'd have a bed next to hers to lay down inside, yet Gru snuggled up next to Lucy, fishing for her hand to entangle his fingers with hers.  
"That sounds great Gru, you're a natural," she sighed, scooting down to lay beside him. "So, how was it all? From your perspective? I didn't scare you, did I?"  
"Mh-mh...!" He shook his head, his eyes closed "Not dhe slightest." Opening one eye to see if she got his joke, he chuckled himself, closing both again.  
"It was jus'...incredible...I-I couldn't even comprehend how somethin' dat small culd be even alive...I'm not used to hold babies, yu know...?" He grinned. "And dhe moment I culd feel her head.. I thought my chest wuld explode."  
Pausing, he remembered how his body clenched by the time he was grabbing his daughters head from beneath Lucy's form.  
"But...yeah, durin' each of yur contractions, I was really worried..."  
Moving his hand up to her face, he brushed away some of her hair and behind her ear. "I'm jus' happy dat yu're fine, and dat Robin's fine..."  
Lucy returned the favor, stroking his cheeks in the dark. They couldn't cuddle up to each other, it being two hospital beds, but she enjoyed lightly touching him, knowing he was there.  
"We both are." she smiled at him. " And tomorrow, as soon as I'm up, I'll take a quick shower and change clothes and we'll go home, right? Do the girls know you proposed?"  
Gru smiled wearily, half-asleep already. But there still was this presence around him, the presence of a happy father seeing and holding his baby for the first time.  
"Dhey, in fact...chose she ring for yu vith me..." He mumbled, about to pass out, all inside his clothes and without even throwing the duvet over him.  
"Dhey'll be ...more dhan happy ...to have yu as ...dheir modher."  
And with that Gru was fast asleep. Lucy watched as he slowly drifted off, and with a happy smile and a last tear rolling down her face, she closed her eyes as well.


End file.
